1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Landings 

 (X 1,000 t) 



Shrimp t 



I 



85 90 95 



Year 



Figure 21-3 



Commercial landings of 

 Dungeness crab and several 

 species of shrimp from the 

 combined region of Wash- 

 ington, Oregon, and Califor- 

 nia, in metric tons (t). 



Landings 

 (x 1,000 t) 



Figure 21-4 



Landings of abalone in Cali- 

 fornia, 1888-1997, in metric 

 tons. 



Landings (whole animal weight) 



±Ll 



■Hill I I I I I I 



1940 

 Year 



ing various manageniciu alternatives, in l')')7 the 

 council recommended that C^ongress extend in- 

 terim authority beyond 1999 and expand the au- 

 thority to include all management measures ex- 

 cept limited entry provisions. 



Abalone — Abalones are tound mostly in Calitor- 

 ma where utili/ation ol the resource actually pre- 

 dates modern history. Ihe meat is very valuable; a 

 14-ounce (397 grams) canned abalone may retail 

 for $50 in Seattle's Chinatown. Of the five spe- 

 cies harvested, the red, green, and bl.ick abalone 

 are the most common. Red abalone is the only 

 species to be harvested commercially in C.alifor- 

 nia since 199S. The central and southern (Califor- 

 nia sport and commercial fishery was clo,sed in May 

 1997, and the closure was extended indefinitely 

 in early 1998. The black abalone fishery has been 

 closed since 1993 to allow the population to re- 

 cover from withering syndrome. The white aba- 

 lone population is so low that it has been pro- 

 posed as an endangered species. Commercial aba- 

 lone harvesting is accomplished by "hooka " gear, 

 where compressed air from the surface is supplied 

 to the divers. Scuba gear is used in the CCalifornia 



220 



