How Chinese fishermen spawned the abalone industry

An iconic part of coastal California living used to be fresh abalone grilling over an open flame.And while much is known about the decline of the mollusk, which has virtually disappeared from menus and barbecues after overfishing and disease shrank its population, not so much is known about the roots of abalone becoming such a mainstay of California culture.

Much like with the Gold Rush and railroad construction, Chinese immigrants played a huge part in abalone's history. Long before Californians learned abalone was a delicacy, the Chinese were making a living off plucking it from the rocks at low tide.

"It's a story of an unknown piece of history that has been largely ignored," said Todd Braje, an archaeologist who has been researching the role of the Channel Islands in the early Chinese abalone fishery. "I don't think most people who eat abalone today know how the industry started."

Braje will talk about his findings Wednesday night at Channel Islands National Park headquarters in Ventura. Although free divers can catch some kinds of abalone, which can fetch $50 or more a plate in restaurants, abalone is rare these days compared with 30 years ago, when it was a staple in California.

Braje and a team from the park spent nearly four weeks walking the beaches of San Miguel Island, digging through sand dunes to find the remnants of abalone fisheries that existed there from 1850 to 1865. They found 21 locations where shells and shards of old pottery were buried less than a foot below the surface, although he thinks many more old camps are out there. His research will continue on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands, where he suspects there were camps.

Fishermen would sail across the Santa Barbara Channel in traditional Chinese junks and drop off a few people who would pry abalones from rocks and dry them out on the islands. Some fishermen would stay on the islands for months at a time, while others would stay on boats anchored just offshore.

The meat was sold to the growing Chinese community in California or shipped to China.

News articles at the time said eating an abalone was like chewing on shoe leather, so the Chinese had the market to themselves, Braje said.

"A group of Chinese saw this opportunity after getting pushed out of the Gold Rush," he said. "Because most of the state was fascinated with earning a wealth of money, they didn't take notice of the fishery, and there was not an appetite for abalone outside of the Chinese community."

Things changed in 1913, when, at an expo in San Francisco, the abundant abalone off the coast was trumpeted. Chefs had learned the proper way to prepare abalone, and by the 1920s, it was heralded as the "jewel of the sea," Braje said.

Realizing there was money to be made and riding a wave of bigotry, authorities slapped laws and taxes on the Chinese, who soon were forced out of the business.

The abalone fishery took off as consumers greatly enjoyed the mollusk's flavor, but it was overfished heavily. Combined with disease, overfishing ruined the abalone population, and the fishery closed in 1997.

Braje started his research to try to determine the baseline abalone population before the commercial fishery started and learn what a healthy population might look like if a fishery were to start again. Along the way, he became fascinated by how the little-known Chinese fishermen started an industry.

"I don't think they get much credit at all," he said.

Braje's free talk will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center, Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive at the Ventura Harbor.