California Extends Red Abalone Fishing Ban For Another 10 Years

The California Fish and Game Commission voted Thursday to extend the closure of the recreational red abalone fishery for another decade, keeping the ban in place until April 2036.

The fishery has been closed since 2018, when the commission shut it down in response to a dramatic population decline along Northern California’s coastline, prompting regulators to enact what was initially intended to be a temporary ban.

State regulators said the main reason for the abalone’s decline was the collapse of California’s kelp forests, their primary food source, driven by climate-related factors like warm ocean temperatures, major storms and exploding purple urchin populations.

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