How have chefs and the restaurant industry contributed to the near-extinction of abalone, the prized mollusk often associated with fine dining?

Indigenous tribes up and down the coast of what is today California have been eating abalone for thousands of years. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the influx of non-native folks led to the hunting, fetishization, and overconsumption of abalone. From San Francisco bohemians who were inspired by its beauty to Japanese fishermen making a business out of exporting it back home, the rapid decline of the abalone population led to the government instituting a ban on abalone fishing. In this episode, we explore the various forces that led to the near-extinction of abalone and how the government ban has criminalized the millennia-old culinary customs of indigenous people like Hillary Renick, a Pomo-Paiute woman who has risked jail time and fines in order to keep those food traditions alive.

TW/CW - we discuss the trauma associated with the colonization of the United States and topics such as genocide and gun violence. 

Guests: 

Ann Vileisis (she/her)

Her website  |  Buy the book

Hillary Renick (she/her)

About Hilary  |  The High Country News Article  |  TEDxArchivorium with Hillary

Doug Bush. (he/him)

Cultured Abalone Instagram  |  Buy Cultured Abalone 

Resources: 

To read more about what we talked about in this episode: 

• Native Food Profiles/Oral Histories
• Abalone Tales: Collaborative Explorations of Sovereignty and Identity in Native California
• History: Hidden Treaty of Temecula robbed Indigenous people of their lands
• Genocide and the Indians of California, 1769-1873
• The Gold Rush Impact on Native Tribes
• California’s Little-Known Genocide
• Traditional Foods and Indigenous Solidarity by Hillary Renick
• xpm-1988-04-20-fi-1286-story.html">Abalone : It takes two years to grow one small mollusk, but biologists are trying to make all that time pay off with a crop that will be a big hit with gourmets
• California Is Destroying Its Cultural Heritage as Abalone Verges on Extinction
• xpm-1999-jul-15-mn-56227-story.html">Troubled Waters for Abalone Farms Proposal
• California-s-abalone-country-the-hunt-9170983.php">In California’s abalone country, the hunt continues to evolve
• How Chinese Immigrants Built—and Lost—a Shellfish Industry
• The Abalone King of Monterey: "pop" Ernest Doelter, Pioneering Japanese Fishermen & the Culinary Classic That Saved an Industry
• Abalone, That Delicious Rarity, Being Farmed in Bay Area
• s-luster-grows-Eco-friendly-aquaculture-2614648.php#photo-2101370">Abalone's luster grows / Eco-friendly aquaculture lures endangered mollusk back onto Bay Area menus
• Abalone grows as a cash crop

The video clips in this episode come from: 

• San Francisco Panama Pacific International Exposition 1915
• 100 Story Project - Roy Hattori: The Japanese Internment
• 100 Story Project - Roy Hattori: Diving for Abalone
• How Chef Daniel Boulud Makes His Signature Abalone Dish at Two-Michelin-Starred Daniel 
• How a Master Chef Built One of the Country's Best Restaurants In Elk, California
• How a Master Chef Runs the Only Two Michelin-Starred Mexican Restaurant in America
• @highspeeddining at Minibar by José Andrés
• Astounding Eats Get Better at Aubergine Restaurant

This episode is supported by BentoBox and Clover. To learn more about their all-in-one platform for websites, online ordering, world-class point-of-sale, and payment solutions, check out getbento.com/better