When the California Fish and Game Commission took the unprecedented step of shuttering the North Coast’s red abalone season back in 2017 due to a precipitous decline in the population amid the larger collapse of the region’s kelp forests, there was hope that the temporary moratorium would give the fishery a chance to rebound.
But, eight years later, the prized mollusks — and the delicate marine ecosystem on which they depend — are still struggling in the wake of what scientists have described as a “perfect storm” of ecological events that left vast swaths of once-thriving underwater worlds a mere shadow of their former biodiverse splendor.
In response, the commission voted Aug. 14 to authorize the publication of a notice of intent to push back the fishery’s reopening for a third time, setting in motion the regulatory process to extend the moratorium’s sunset date until April of 2036.
The new proposed timeline, if approved, goes into effect one day before the current closure expires on April 1, 2026, placing the last vestige of recreational abalone diving in the state off limits for another decade.
“People say this is political. There’s nothing political about it, number 1,” commission member Eric Sklar said at the meeting. “I’m an abalone diver who’s heartbroken every time I see the ocean, that I can’t go out and abalone dive. People tend to use, ‘This is a political decision,’ when they don’t like the decision, when they don’t like the science.
“Abalone populations are depleted almost across the board,” he continued. “There are little pockets and there are inevitably going to be little pockets, but we can’t have a statewide policy based on pockets. … It’s about, primarily, the kelp, and the kelp is not recovering, and there’s not a lot we can do about that unless we change the trajectory of climate change, is my view. And that’s not political. That’s science based.”
The cascade of marine environmental disasters dates back to August of 2011, when Sonoma County saw a massive die-off of marine life amid an outbreak of toxic algae. Two years later, a mysterious wasting disease wiped out an estimated 80 percent of sea stars along the entire Pacific Coast, although just this month researchers reported they have pinpointed the cause after years of searching.
Hardest hit was the sunflower star: a voracious keystone predator boasting a dazzling array of 24-arms at maturity that plays an integral role in keeping kelp forests healthy with its ability to swallow a sea urchin whole. In fact, the sunflower star has all but disappeared.
Around the same time, back-to-back marine heat waves decimated the region’s bull kelp forests, which are dependent on cool ocean temperatures to thrive. Following the so-called “warm water blob” of 2014 and the “Godzilla” El Niño of 2015, some areas off the Mendocino and Sonoma coasts saw declines in the waxy canopies of more than 90 percent compared to previous years.
Meanwhile, the purple sea urchin exploded in numbers without the sunflower star to keep them in check and set upon what remained of the bull kelp. Red abalone — unable to compete with the marauding spiky armies — began to starve as their main food source was depleted. In just a few years, the red abalone population plummeted by an estimated 85 percent across a wide section of coastline stretching from Sonoma to Southern Humboldt, prompting the fishery’s original closure in 2017.
During the August commission meeting, Brian Owens, a senior marine biologist with the state Fish and Wildlife Department, gave a status update, saying many of the same interlacing issues that lead to the ecosystem’s collapse remain key obstacles to abalone recovery and the reopening of the fishery.
Those include an abundance of purple urchin, a lack of kelp and the absence of the sunflower star, although he noted there have been seeing “some increase in sightings” in California’s northern counties, but those observations “remain very low.”
“In spite of the ongoing moratorium … abalone populations have shown no signs of recovery and kelp forests on the North Coast have not yet rebounded despite cooler ocean temperatures,” he said.
One of the issues that further complicates red abalone’s ability to rebound is the long time frame it needs to reach maturity, he noted. Another is that they reproduce by sending sperm and eggs out into the water, which requires dense populations to make a successful match.
Overall, Owens said, the North Coast is still seeing “low and variable levels” of young abalone.
“So even when conditions improve and some of the barriers are removed, like increased kelp being available and stronger recruitment, it still can take a number of years before we see enough surplus abalone to consider reopening the fishery,” he said.
Owens also noted that the surge in purple urchin numbers coincided with the decline in the region’s kelp forests and “continues to limit their recovery.”
Bull kelp grows as a single stalk and dies off each year — basically an annual marine plant rather than a perennial — making it especially vulnerable to urchin intrusions that can inhibit a new growth’s ability to gain a foothold.
The loss of the sunflower star, Owens said, “further exacerbates the problem,” describing the creatures that can grow as large as a car tire as “vital to maintaining healthy kelp forests.”
As Owens noted in his report, there have been some recent sightings in the North Coast region.
To help gather data, a coalition of environmental groups is asking tidepoolers to be on the lookout for the distinctive sea denizen and, if they see one, to take a picture and upload it to iNaturalist. However, they make it clear that people should not disturb the sunflower stars during the process. More information on the effort can be found at seasquatch.org.
On a related note, earlier this month, a coalition of researchers announced the long-awaited discovery of the source of what is known as sea star wasting disease — the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida.
According to a joint release on the discovery, the four-year research effort centered on the nearly extinct sunflower star was led by scientists from the Hakai Institute, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Washington in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, the Tula Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“When we lose billions of sea stars, that really shifts the ecological dynamics,” Melanie Prentice, the first author on the study and an evolutionary ecologist at the Hakai Institute and UBC, said in the release. “In the absence of sunflower stars, sea urchin populations increase, which means the loss of kelp forests, and that has broad implications for all the other marine species and humans that rely on them. So losing a sea star goes far beyond the loss of that single species.”
While a number of questions remain unanswered, with the release noting “work is needed to understand the circumstances surrounding the origin of the epidemic, the varying resilience among more than 20 asteroid species thought to be affected by this disease, and the environmental factors that underlie the timing and severity of annual outbreaks, such as ocean temperature,” the hope is that understanding the cause will help lay the groundwork for recovery of the ecosystems affected in the future.
“This finding opens up exciting avenues to pursue and expands the network of researchers able to develop solutions for recovery of the species,” Jono Wilson, the director of ocean science for Nature Conservancy’s California chapter, said in the release. “We are now actively pursuing studies looking at genetic associations with disease resistance, captive breeding of the animals, and experimental outplanting to understand the most effective strategies and locations to reintroduce sunflower sea stars into the wild.”
Back at the commission meeting, some speakers advocated for a shorter moratorium on recreational abalone diving or consideration of a limited take being allowed, perhaps through a drawing that could help raise money for enforcement and restoration, with several expressing concerns about poaching while acknowledging the “significant challenges” abalone is facing.
A representative of the organization Fish On, which describes itself as supporting “meaningful, ambitious ocean protection policy” and “ocean justice and equitable access issues for fishing communities across the United States,” urged the commission to approach the fishery’s management cautiously to ensure abalone “persist for future generations.”
Others also expressed support for a management and restoration strategy that takes an “all hands on deck approach” by bringing in commercial and recreational fishers and divers and other interested parties outside of the department to help better understand the realities of what’s going on under coastal waters.
“We want this fishery to recover and be sustainable,” one said.
Commissioner Jacque Hostler-Carmesin echoed some of those sentiments, saying she was concerned about a lack of recent surveys and, considering the Fish and Game Department’s budget constraints, would like to see partnerships formed with “citizen scientists, tribes and nonprofits … in a collaborative approach so we can really get those surveys out there.”
“I think we are going to see a lot of data if we ask for the data,” she said.
Hostler-Carmesin also said that she would want to see a “a detailed and robust” review of the situation at the half-way point if the commission moves ahead with the 10-year closure extension and asked if a shorter period would be possible.
Sklar, a fellow commissioner who also serves on the Marine Resources Committee, which forwarded the department staff’s recommendation to extend the closure to the full board, said the time frame was necessary considering abalone’s 7- to 8-year growth period, saying “anything shorter wouldn’t tell us a lot.”
And, he noted, “We are going to do check-ins no matter what. This is never off the radar screen at the MRC.”
Asked by Hostler-Carmesin if the commission could switch course if nature changes its course during the next decade, Sklar responded, “Absolutely. One hundred percent.”
The issue is slated to come back before the commission for discussion in October, with a final decision on the proposed additional decade-long closure expected in December.
Kimberly Wear is the Journal’s assistant editor. Reach her at kim@northcoastjournal.com.
This article appears in ‘No Signs of Recovery’.
The book noted below is an extensively researched history of abalone along California’s west coast that describes in detail all the events leading up to current conditions. While weather, ocean conditions, and other creatures play an important part in the decline of abalone populations, unchecked harvesting by humans for decades did the most damage. Those elements, coupled with government agencies reluctant to impose restrictions, contributed to drastic population declines.
I grew up at Shelter Cove back in the 1950s and 1960s when red abalone were abundant. One could rock pick and easily get a limit. Over time mostly only snorkelers could find legal sized abs. I’m extremely pleased that the season was closed in order to prevent continued takes and give our abalone a chance to recover. I would support the closure indefinitely so that they may continue as they have for millions of years.
Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California’s
by Ann Vileisis