California Abalone Season Delay Shuts Down Annual April Harvest

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California wildlife managers have curtailed this year's red abalone season, axing both April and November from the calendar and sharply reducing the allowable annual catch.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist Jerry Kashiwada says it will be the first April since 1921 that red abalone cannot legally be harvested.

When the season does open May 1, the allowable annual catch will be 12, down from 18.

This could help the fishery rebound from a catastrophic mix of ocean conditions that have prompted extensive starvation in abalone stocks.

The suite of emergency measures is projected to shave about a quarter of this year's harvest, offsetting reductions in population and reproduction caused by high mortality and physical attrition