BY San Jose Mercury News

"Most days of the year there is somewhere to dive," Buck said. "A sure sign of a poor diver is a person who shows up and dives in poor conditions. A good diver will learn the coastline and learn where to dive given the conditions. A good diver will find the best conditions, and the best conditions is where it's safe -- calm, clear water. Lifeguards and rangers will always be happy to steer you in the right direction."

Buck said most of the rescues he and his fellow state lifeguards make along the Sonoma Coast are of abalone divers.

"We average upwards of 50 [rescues] in a season," he said, "some seasons over a hundred. I had four rescues this weekend alone. All the rescues I made were guys I warned and they did exactly what I told them not to do.

"A lot of them drive out from a long ways away to get to the dive site, so pretty much they're going to get in the water no matter what the conditions are. You get people underestimating the power of the ocean and overestimating their own abilities. That's when people get in trouble."

Abalone live along rocky shores near kelp forests, kelp being their main food source, and like to set up shop in crevices and underneath boulders where they're protected. Underneath its red shell, the abalone is essentially just one big muscle, which allows it to grab on and affix itself to the underside of rocks. Often their round, convex shells, which already look like rocks from the surface, will be covered in algae, allowing them to further blend in with the rocky bottom.

Red abalone can be found on exposed rocks during extreme low tides and as deep as 70 feet below the ocean surface. Because freediving is the only legal method of harvesting the animal underwater [absolutely no scuba or any other type of surface air supply is allowed] most abalone divers operate within 10-30 feet of water.

In order to pick an abalone, the diver must take a lungful of air and dive down to the ocean floor. After scouting out an abalone that looks desirable and measuring the animal by placing the abalone gauge to its shell, the diver must then use the ab iron [a flat strip of metal about 7 inches long] to pry the muscle off the rock.

The diver will quickly slip the iron underneath the shell, in between the muscle and the rock, and then lever upwards, popping the abalone off the rocks. However, if the diver takes too long in prying the animal off, or disturbs it while measuring or scoping it out, the muscle will clamp down tight to the rock and be nearly impossible to remove. Struggling to pry the abalone off at this stage is mostly futile and will only injure the animal, while burning up what little oxygen the diver has left.

Abalone live along rocky shores near kelp forests, kelp being their main food source, and like to set up shop in crevices and underneath boulders where they're protected. Underneath its red shell, the abalone is essentially just one big muscle, which allows it to grab on and affix itself to the underside of rocks. Often their round, convex shells, which already look like rocks from the surface, will be covered in algae, allowing them to further blend in with the rocky bottom.

Red abalone can be found on exposed rocks during extreme low tides and as deep as 70 feet below the ocean surface. Because freediving is the only legal method of harvesting the animal underwater [absolutely no scuba or any other type of surface air supply is allowed] most abalone divers operate within 10-30 feet of water.

In order to pick an abalone, the diver must take a lungful of air and dive down to the ocean floor. After scouting out an abalone that looks desirable and measuring the animal by placing the abalone gauge to its shell, the diver must then use the ab iron [a flat strip of metal about 7 inches long] to pry the muscle off the rock.

The diver will quickly slip the iron underneath the shell, in between the muscle and the rock, and then lever upwards, popping the abalone off the rocks. However, if the diver takes too long in prying the animal off, or disturbs it while measuring or scoping it out, the muscle will clamp down tight to the rock and be nearly impossible to remove. Struggling to pry the abalone off at this stage is mostly futile and will only injure the animal, while burning up what little oxygen the diver has left.

State law allows licensed divers to take abalone from the waters north of the Golden Gate in the counties of Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte. The season is open during the months of April, May, June, August, September, October and November.

Unfortunately, not everyone follows the rules.

Abalone poaching -- taking more than one's legal limit of three per day and 24 per year, and taking them out of season -- is an increasing problem, especially when a single abalone can fetch up to $100 on the black market. The California Department of Fish and Game estimates that over 250,000 abalone are poached off the North Coast every year. As a result, a tougher set of rules is being implemented in 2008.

"California's red abalone is a very important and valuable fishery resource," Nancy Foley, Chief of the Department's Law Enforcement Division, said in a statement. "This new regulation should enable our law enforcement officers to better enforce regulations designed to prevent the overharvest of this abalone fishery."

In years past, a diver could come ashore and leisurely return to his vehicle with his abalone and gear, change into some warm, dry clothes and then fill out his abalone card. On the card he would record how many abalone were caught [up to three for that day] where, and when. The diver would then punch out one of the 24 holes on his abalone card for each abalone he caught that day.

According to the new rules, divers must now carry their sport fishing license and abalone report card at all times when diving. Immediately upon exiting the water or boarding a vessel, the diver must fill in the month, day, time of catch, and location on abalone tags that come with his card and affix one tag to the shell of each abalone caught. After tagging all his abalone, the diver must then record the same information in his abalone report card.

While many divers see the new rules as an annoyance, ab divers like Barlow say they don't mind the regulations if it means ensuring a sustainable sport fishery to enjoy in the future.

"I'm okay with the new regulations and the need for Fish and Game to enforce them," Barlow said. "It's the fact that some people have been really dishonest and forced Fish and Game to make those changes that bothers me. It's the classic case where a few rotten apples spoil it for the whole bunch"

Buck, also an avid abalone diver, agreed with Barlow.

"For me it's really a privilege to dive for abalone and I think that we should do whatever needs to be done to preserve it for future generations," Barlow said. "It's a lot better than shutting the whole thing down. ... but because of overharvesting and other factors, the abalone disappeared. So it's very real to me that the ab population could disappear. It's a precious resource that needs to be protected."

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