We're surrounded by shallow white tanks that look like large gutters, trying to get a glimpse of a baby abalone. The teeny specks are starting their lives, hand fertilized, hand-fed, and nurtured at the Cultured Abalone Farm in Goleta.
The facility is one of just two abalone farms in California. There are only four nationwide.
We're part of a tour to learn about abalone and aquaculture, which is being led by Andie Van Horn, the farm’s farm-to-fork manager.
Or should that be tide-to-table?
"Abalone are a marine snail," explained Van Horn. "As long as people have lived on the California coast, they've been eating abalone. The Chumash people, the native people to Santa Barbara, would go along the intertidal (areas) and forage for abalone. They weren't just used as a food source, but also in different cultural celebrations."
Unsustainable fishing levels caused steep declines in the abalone population. The commercial fishery closed in the 1990s, followed by the recreational fishery in 2018.
The Cultured Abalone Farm has grown to be one of the main sources for red abalone.
"Unfortunately, with how the fishery has changed over time and having to rely on this farming, abalone isn't an everyday food for people anymore," said Van Horn. "It tends to be more of a luxury or a nostalgic experience."
The farm has a conservation mission in addition to culinary uses, to help restore the wild population and restore kelp forests. But these rare and expensive mollusks won’t be rushed. Even the fastest-growing abalone can take three and a half years to reach market size.
The water filling the tanks is pumped from the Santa Barbara Channel, and the kelp they graze on is either grown onsite or wild-harvested from the channel.
"We run raw seawater, so there's a big mesh filter on the end to make sure no big animals come in, but beyond that, all the magic that is in seawaters comes in," Van Horn explained. "We feed giant kelp by the armful to our tanks, and it'll take two full days just to make sure everyone's fed at least once."
By the end of the tour, an abalone that’s around 10 years old is placed in my hand. It’s about the size of a side plate. It lifts its iridescent shell, giving me a good look at this otherworldly creature, which is suctioned to my hand.
"When you first look at an abalone, it kind of just looks like a rock," said VanHorn. "Their body will slowly kind of start to relax and peel away from its shell, and that's when you can really start to see its face. They have two funny little snail eyes to either side. They look a little alien-like, and their mouth is kind of this dark part at the center."
"They sometimes move in an interesting way," Van Horn continued. "It always catches people by surprise. My favorite thing, if you're lucky to see it, is their feeding tentacles. They're kind of heart-shaped. They're really cute when they grab your finger with those and just kind of have that little heart-shaped tentacle on you."
Visitors said they enjoyed seeing the critters go through their life cycle.
"It was something that we thought would be pretty interesting and something we wouldn't get to see every day," said one guest.
"We have the craziest sea life stuff, so this is just another one to...see and experience," said another.
"It's very interesting, and it's a great project to help restore the ecosystem off the coast of California," shared another visitor.
Now that we know what abalone look like, how do they taste?
You can find out at a tour and tasting experience at the Cultured Abalone Farm. It's part of the weeklong Santa Barbara Culinary Experience, which runs from May 11 to 17.
