LONE ABALONE

For most of this century, California’s abalone fishery was a multi-million dollar enterprise. Coveted for their rich meat and colorful shells, these mollusks once lined the ocean floor like cobblestones. But their numbers have dwindled and several species reached the brink of extinction, until there was only one major commercial abalone fishery left in the state. This spring, state officials took a controversial step and closed this fishery down. From San Francisco, reporter Rosie Weiser explains.