Gary Davis, SeaDoc Society Emeritus Board Member, reviews Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California’s Iconic Shellfish, by Ann Vileisis, 2020 (Oregon State University Press, Corvallis)

By Gary Davis

How were Vancouver Island’s Nuu-chah-nulth people, California red abalone, Chinese quicksilver, and 18th century Spanish Treasure Fleets connected to each other? In two enlightening pages, author Ann Vileisis weaves a fascinating story of world trade for bright shiny objects, plush furs, and technology that illuminate a web of dependency among the Salish Sea, China, California, Mexico, and Spain all tied to a big marine snail with a miraculous shell—abalone. It’s an engaging introduction.

Vileisis’s knowledge, borne of exhaustive and meticulous research (37 pages of references/footnotes), combined with understanding developed from curiosity and insight, feeds her compelling storytelling. She has woven parables for thought-provoking discussions of conservation, human wellbeing, and beauty, seasoned with endless questions, such as: Why does abalone nacre shimmer so? What makes abalone shells so light and strong? Why is it so difficult for people to sustain abalone fisheries?

So we may learn from previous experiences, Vileisis traces multiple efforts of people to sustain abalone fishing over millennia. Starting with 10,000 year-old evidence from early hunter-gathers using rotating harvest schemes and depth refuges to 20th century minimum-size take restrictions, place-based protections, and serial depletions in the 20th century, she describes multiple facets of modern California abalone fishery experiences as historical precedents and cautionary tales for 21st century Salish Sea pinto abalone restoration.

Perhaps more importantly, Vileisis makes it fun to learn history with her stories, and engagingly shows us how to use the knowledge to sate our own curiosities.