Sonoma Coast abalone season begins

Abalone hunters are expected to flock to the North Coast this weekend for the opening of the annual season - a time for tradition and, for some, trepidation, as hundreds of people with varying levels of fitness and experience converge on the region’s rugged coastline to retrieve the succulent shellfish.

Predicted mild weather and surf, as well as low tide levels, suggest reasonably welcoming conditions over the next few days, especially on Sunday, experts said.

But regardless, the season opener typically draws a crowd of eager-beaver divers and rock pickers.

“It’s going to be on,” said Steve Lackey, a diving instructor at Sub-Surface Progression Dive Shop in Fort Bragg. “There’s going to be a lot of diving going on this weekend.”

Campgrounds up and down the coast reported many reservations and strong interest in campsites that can’t be reserved.

Some kayakers out in the still morning waters off the northern Sonoma Coast on Thursday appeared to be scouting out hunting grounds for today, said Tim Aikens, operator of the Ocean Cove Bar & Grill and the Ocean Cove Lodge in Jenner.

Mendocino Coast campgrounds were expecting an onslaught as well.

“We’re going to be full,” said Sandy Pronsolino, senior park aide at Van Damme State Park, which provides a traditional meeting spot for many large groups and families. “We’re totally full, starting tomorrow night,” she said Thursday.

California’s red abalone season officially begins at 8 a.m. today and runs from April to June and August to November, with a break in July.

Glen Ellen resident Brian Phillips, an engineer with Keysight Technologies, sees no reason to wait.

The veteran diver said he’ll be in the water at Stillwater Cove Regional Park in Jenner at 8:01 a.m. and expects to catch his three-ab limit in time to make it back to work for a 10:30 meeting.

“The better way is where you go over, and you get a campsite … and you’re taking your time to get up there, and you’re enjoying the whole thing,” Phillips, 58, said.

But that will come later in the season. For now, it will be enough to see the sun come up, glimpse the spring wildflowers, “get a fresh swim in and then I’m off to work,” he said.

Red abalone, a large mollusk with sweet, somewhat buttery meat, brings thousands of people to the Northern California coast each year, where the physical demands of cold, powerful waves and tankless diving regularly exact a toll.

At least eight people lost their lives on the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts last year. Public safety personnel routinely brace for the season, given the risks and what some call “Sacramento Syndrome,” an unwillingness of those who have driven some distance to the coast to give up on diving, even if conditions suggest they should.

Longtime divers say it is necessary to take time to learn to read the waves and be willing to cancel plans if waves and visibility so indicate.

They say hunting for their own food in the ocean environment is a thrilling endeavor that satisfies their primal urges and longing for adventure. And the mollusks are great eating, to boot.

“It’s just a great way to start the weekend - with a swim in the ocean,” said Phillips, who has been diving for some 40 years and raised two sons who also snorkel and scuba dive. “It’s something the boys and I have been doing for many, many years.”

Red abalone can be fished only by recreational hunters and are strictly regulated because of concerns about sustaining the population. They may not be sold or harvested commercially.

Divers and rock pickers are limited to collecting only those abalone that are at least 7 inches or larger when measured along the longest shell diameter. They must be measured before they are taken off rocks.

Collectors are limited to 18 of the shellfish per season, only nine of which can be taken off the Sonoma Coast.

Only three may be taken in a day, and only three possessed at any given time. All shellfish must be properly tagged and recorded.

Fishing regulations also require divers to keep certain equipment in hand, including measuring calipers and pry bars that meet state guidelines.

Fishing may be conducted from 8 a.m. to one half-hour after sunset.

More information is available at wildlife.ca.gov/conservation/marine/invertebrates/abalone.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.