Morro Bay - Once known as the abalone capital of the world

 

In the mid-1900s, Morro Bay, on the central California coast, was the biggest source of abolone in the United States. Millions of pounds were harvested here from 1916 through the early 1960s, until the abalone supply crashed. The last commercial harvest was in 1980. The abalone decline has been attributes to over-fishing, disease, the impact of ocean warming on kelp beds needed for abalone survival, and the increase in the number of Southern sea otter.