Abalone

The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California's Iconic Shellfish

By: Ann Vileisis

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Paperback | 30 May 2020

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During the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s, California's coast seemed awash in abalone. From San Diego to Crescent City, people feasted on abalone steaks and glimmering shells were sold in trinket shops. Abalones' remarkable abundance and appeal made them icons of California's easy-living, laid-back beach culture. But just a few decades later, many younger Californians had never seen the legendary mollusk. In the past twenty years, two of California's seven abalone species have joined the U.S. Endangered Species list, and even the hardiest now faces the ecological collapse of its home habitat in Northern California--long regarded as a sure stronghold. After more than 70 million years of gripping tenaciously to North America's western shoreline, how--in our time--did the fate of the delicious, wondrous, and once abundant abalone become so precarious?

Industry Reviews

People say that if you put a seashell to your ear you can hear the ocean. This never worked well with abalones until now. This well-informed, deeply felt, eloquently written book tells us, in a beautiful way, where abalones have been and where they-and the ocean-are headed.
-Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean and Becoming Wild
Not many writers are good enough to make a story about snails gripping, but Ann Vileisis makes her history and natural history of abalone sing. This exquisite mollusk biography tells how human desire, greed, and incompetence led to an irreplaceable creature's undoing. A truly marvelous, unexpected joy of a book.
-Callum Roberts, professor of marine conservation at University of York and author of The Unnatural History of the Seaand The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea
Ann Vileisis's new book, Abalone, is a brilliant and compelling story of loss and recovery, despair, hope, and uncertainty-a galvanizing narrative in this disturbing moment. Abalone is deeply researched and imaginatively written; I cannot wait to teach it!
-Char Miller, W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College and author of Not So Golden State: Sustainability vs. the California Dream
Ann Vileisis's chronicle of the charismatic California abalone is terrific! This is a must-read for all who want to understand this iconic marine snail.
-Mike Schaadt, director emeritus, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Like the magical inside of an abalone shell, Ann Vileisis's writing shimmers, and her book reflects a kaleidoscope of profound historical, biological, and cultural insights.

-Christine Keiner, author of The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay since 1880

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