Featuring environmentalist and author, Ann Vileisis

In collaboration with the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition

From rocky coves at Mendocino and Monterey to San Diego’s reefs, abalone have held a cherished place in California culture for millennia. Prized for iridescent shells and delectable meat, these unique shellfish inspired indigenous artisans, bohemian writers, California cuisine, and the popular sport of skin diving, but also became a highly coveted commercial commodity. Mistakenly regarded as an inexhaustible seafood, abalone ultimately became vulnerable to overfishing and early impacts of climate change.

Join award-winning author Ann Vileisis for a deep dive into the environmental history of abalone. A limited number of signed copies of her book will be available for purchase from the author.

This event also features an update about local abalone from Nancy Caruso of the marine education and restoration group Get Inspired.

Light refreshments served.

About Ann
Ann Vileisis is an independent scholar and award-winning author of three books that explore culture and nature through history. Her first book Discovering the Unknown Landscape, a history of America’s wetlands, won two national history awards from the American Historical Association and the American Society for Environmental History. Her second book, Kitchen Literacy, how we lost knowledge of where food comes from and why we need to get it back, was recognized by Real Simple Magazine as one of “50 books that will change your life.”

Her newest work, Abalone: the remarkable history and uncertain future of California’s iconic shellfish, takes her storytelling to a new level and brings an important environmental history perspective to marine life. Dr. Callum Roberts has called it “a truly marvelous, unexpected joy of a book.”

About the Laguna Bluebelt
The Laguna Bluebelt Coalition brings together organizations and individuals with a common goal of protecting and restoring marine life, conserving biological diversity and maintaining healthy, sustainable marine habitats for all plant, fish and animal species.

We promote education of local marine resources and enforcement of environmental protection laws and regulations. The Coalition seeks to provide a forum for communication, relationship building, and public outreach toward the common goals of caring for the marine life environments of Laguna Beach.

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Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California’s Iconic Shellfish