Diego,
although a large number are gathered in Halfmoon Bay and from the rocks
that line the shore of Mendocino County. The ear shells attach
themselves to the rocks by means of their large muscular disk-shaped
foot (so called) which acts like a sucker or exhaust cup. Just before
the tide leaves them on the ebb and just after it has reached them on
the flow, the abalones keep their shells slightly raised above the
surface of the rock with the feelers drawn in. Then the fisherman, with
either a long, broad knife or a spade-like instrument—both are
used—gives a quick lift to the sucker or foot, letting in the air. The
suction is destroyed and the fish falls off, when it is seized and
thrown into a boat or basket, before it can fasten itself afresh. If
the fish lies below water, a sort of grappling iron is let down, and
after the point is inserted under the shell a vigorous wrench pulls it
away. All this has to be done quickly and quietly, for if the abalone
closes down on the rock, it cannot be drawn off, so great is its power
of adhesion, and it will be broken into fragments before it releases
its hold. When caught, the abalones are thrown on the beach, and the
fish is pulled from the shell with a flat, sharp stick, and stripped of
its curtain, boiled, salted, and strung on long rods to dry in the air.
This process is very disagreeable, and that of stripping and cleaning
so offensive that none but Chinese will undertake it. The abalones must
be as hard as sole-leather when properly dried, and they are then
packed in sacks, and sent to China. The price of the meat is from five
to eight cents a pound in San Francisco, or from seven to ten cents a
pound in China. When cooked, it is cut into strips and boiled, the
taste being similar to that of the clam, but with a more meatlike
consistency.
The
trade in this dried meat is considerable. In 1866 there were exported
from San Francisco by steamer 1,697 sacks, valued at $14,440, and in
1867 the exports had risen to 3,713 sacks, valued at $33,090. At
present there are exported upwards of 200 tons a year, which at $175 a
ton would amount to $35,000. At San Diego, Cal., the dried meat is
quoted at $110 a ton. The shells vary from almost microscopic size to
eight or ten inches in diameter. Before they were found to be of any
marketable value, they were thrown away. One heap a
