abalone

In the southern sea otter's range of coastal Central California, some of the preferred prey such as large abalone and sea urchins, are not difficult to break open.

At the Bodega Bay open house, an abalone diver, Doug Jung, summarized fishermen’s worries succinctly: Wouldn’t reintroduced otters “strip mine the ocean”?

Dozens of local workers gather in groups on the concrete walls of the small port on the island to sort abalone shells for harvesting.

The kelp loss prompted the California Fish and Game Commission to close its recreational red abalone fishery in 2018.

Van Oordt said he is also unwilling to put abalone in the sea “to create a bigger poaching environment.”