MISCELLANEOUS SHELLFISH INDUSTRIES 



671 



{Courtesy of Atlantic Coast Fisheries Co.) 



Fig. 32-2. Moisture-proof cellophane wrapped scallops packaged in tele- 

 scoping waxed cartons. 



By-products. Less than 10 per cent of the whole scallop is eaten; the remainder 

 is used in a variety of ways. The waste organic tissue makes an excellent fish bait, 

 and considerable quantities of this material are preserved by salting. Some of the 

 refuse is used for fertiUzer. The shells are often used in the construction of roads. 

 Various dealers in novelties use relatively large quantities of these shells in the 

 manufacture of souvenirs and other ornaments. The lower valve or shell is the 

 only part suitable for ornamental purposes as it is the brightest and most beautiful. 



The California Abalone Industry 



Development of the Industry. For many centuries abalones have been highly 

 prized by the orientals, particularly the Chinese; but only in recent years have 

 they become recognized by Americans as an article of food. The Chinese preserve 

 abalones by drying or by drying and smoking. As the interior of the abalone shell 

 is very brilliantly colored mother-of-pearl (Chapter 8), the shells are valuable for 

 ornamental purposes. The American Indians utilized the shells largely as orna- 

 ments and money. In Europe and in the Orient the shells are extensively employed 

 in the making of inlaid work. 



The early Chinese immigrants recognized that the California abalones were as 

 valuable for food as the oriental Haliotis and began to gather these moUusks for 

 their meat, which they dried and smoked and exported to China and Hawaii. 

 Soon the Americans began to gather up the shells which the Chinese discarded; 

 these were polished and made into various ornaments. As early as 1879 an impor- 

 tant industry had sprung up; in that year over $127,000 worth of abalones were 

 taken. The production of abalone in California in 1945 was 372,700 pounds, 

 valued at $210,264. While this mollusk is found all along the Pacific Coast from 

 California to Alaska, fishing is almost entirely confined to the coast south of Mon- 

 terey Bay, California. 



Physiology and Habits. The abalone, also called "sea-ear" and "ear shell," be- 

 longs to a family of marine snails, the Haliotidae, of which 6 species and 1 variety 

 have been found on the Pacific Coast, but none on the Atlantic Coast. These large 

 mollusks have well-developed heads. Each abalone has a powerful, adhesive, 



