Abalone

Abalone is a large marine snail with a single shell and a muscular foot. It clings to rocks and grazes on seaweed. Fossils show abalone existed 100 million years ago. Native Americans used their flesh for meat and their iridescent shells for decoration. Divers have overfished abalone off the California coast, but abalone are now being farmed in the waters off California and Hawaii, increasing the supply.



Abalone is the American English variant of the Spanish name Abulón used for various species of shellfish (mollusks) from the Haliotidae family (genus Haliotis). The abalones belong to the large class of gastropods (Gastropoday). There is only one genus in the family Haliotidae, and about four to seven subgenera. The taxonomy is somewhat confused.

The number of species range from about 100 to about 130 species (due to the occurrence of hybrids), characterized by a richly coloured (on the inside—the outside is rough and mostly brown) shell yielding mother-of-pearl. This is also commonly called ear-shell, in Guernsey ormer (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer), perlemoen in South Africa and pāua in New Zealand.
Abalone is also prevalent in Australian and South African coastal waters and is highly valued. The muscle tissue of this mollusk is considered a delicacy in certain parts of South-East and East Asia, especially in China and Japan.

They may be purchased live, as freshly prepared steaks, canned or frozen. It is also sold in various dried, shredded or powdered forms in parts of Asia. Declining natural stocks are nowadays supplemented by farm raised supplies. However, the law of supply and demand currently dictates that abalone is a relatively expensive shellfish compared with other kinds.

In the wild, abalone eat marine algae in the wild and on some farms. The adults feed on loose pieces drifting with the surge or current. Large brown algae such as giant kelp, bull kelp, feather boa kelp and elk kelp are preferred, although most others may be eaten at various times. For cultured abalone, many farms now use high quality manufactured food, which is healthy, efficient and produces very high quality meat.

Wild abalone tend to stay in one location waiting for food to drift by. However, they will move daily, seasonally or when food becomes scarce for a long period. The color banding on many abalone shells is due to changes in the types of algae eaten. Juvenile abalone graze on rock encrusting coralline algae and on diatoms and bacterial films. As they grow they increasingly rely on drift algae.

Nutritional Value of Abalone

Abalone (raw), 3 oz.(84.9g)

Calories: 89
Protein: 14.5g
Carbohydrate: 5.1g
Total Fat: 0.65g
Fiber: 0.0g
*Excellent source of: Selenium (38mcg)
*Good source of: Magnesium (40mg), Vitamin B12 (0.6mcg), and Vitamin E (3.4 IU)

Abalone farming, to date, has been limited and hampered by the quality and quantity of the macroalgae sources worldwide. Although some abalone farms have successfully fed manufactured food for nearly 25 years, a high quality low cost manufactured food has been a recent development. Many new farms (and some older farms) are now asking Fishtech to design or redesign their equipment and procedures to allow their crop to be grown on 100% manufactured food. The improvement in growth rate and health of the animals and ease of production are truly astounding.