On one of my very dives at LaJolla Shores in California, I did the sideways shuffle through the surf, dove in head first and immediately came face to face with a large Broomtail Grouper. It was probably only about four feet long, but it seemed really enormous to me. I didn’t realize how rare that sighting was. Spearfishing was a big deal back then and the large fish were harder and harder to find. Then I discovered Abalone. An abalone is a large marine mollusk with a large outer shell on top and a large foot that fills the entire bottom. A legal sized abalone yields about a pound of meat that is considered a delicacy and very expensive to buy – about $25 a pound in the eighties. I soon discovered that a local seafood shop would trade me any other seafood for live abalone and that became a weekend obsession. The limit on abalone at the time was 9, and soon, my brother and I were taking 36 abalone nearly every weekend and filling our freezers with seafood. There’s more to this story, but as time went on we help the population of divers and commercial fisherman deplete the abalone population in Saouthern California. The balance of nature was upset and sea urchins moved in to take over the reefs. The limit on abalone was reduced as the population declined – to 6, then 4, then 2. Finally a moratorium was declared. The abalone population has not increased substancially to this day. It’s hard for me now to think back on those “good times”. I eventually started shooting fish with a camera instead, and now I strive to make a difference in how people view our incredibly diverse but fragile sea.