DFG California Outdoors Q & A on collecting abalone shells for jewlery sales.

I thought I would post up cause I have seen this question asked before,

From the DFG Q & A web site


Question: I have picked up a number of empty abalone shells and pieces
of shells from various beaches to use for making jewelry. It’s obvious
that they have been sitting in water empty for a while because the
inside shows weathering from the saltwater. I know it is not legal for
abalone divers to sell the meat or the shells of the abalone, but are
there any laws prohibiting me from making jewelry to sell from these
empty shells I find? (Jan M., Novato)

Answer:  You can generally pick up abalone shells and shell parts for
your personal use but these shells may not be sold or made into products
to sell. Marine Reserves, State Underwater Parks and other prohibited
areas do not allow any shell collecting. For example, there are some
public lands off of Point Arena that are owned and managed by the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM). BLM allows you to take live abalone, but you
are not allowed to collect empty shells. Wherever you go, you should
contact the controlling agency to find out what collecting activities
are legal for that area.

If that is the case, mother of pearl inlay is sometimes made out of abalone, and all the local shops have abalone jewelry for sale.  I have picked up a lot of little chips, and shaped charms out of them, but have not sold any...........yet.

Stupid law!

Stupid law!

I agree. Cause this means I'm a criminal

The reason for the law is to prevent someone from making an industry out of it, which would create motivation to possibly abuse the resource for financial gain.

The reason for the law is to prevent someone from making an industry out of it, which would create motivation to possibly abuse the resource for financial gain.

Understandable, but never thought twice about the pieces I pick up

Wow. I guess I'm a criminal for collecting shards for art pieces.

Oh well. Anyone ready to play "Breaking the law" by Priest & turn it up to 11?

The reason for the law is to prevent someone from making an industry out of it, which would create motivation to possibly abuse the resource for financial gain.

Understandable, but never thought twice about the pieces I pick up

Pick up and sell?  We're only talking about the sale of the shells.

Wow. I guess I'm a criminal for collecting shards for art pieces.

Oh well. Anyone ready to play "Breaking the law" by Priest & turn it up to 11?

I don't think you're a criminal, and I don't think anyone's looking to prosecute you.  What if, though, you suddenly had customers knocking down your door for your artwork that specifically has abalone incorporated?  What if you really needed and wanted to sell more pieces with abalone but this law was in your way?  I think you'd find a legal source, like abalone farms.  Others may not choose that route, and some might even reach a point where they're doing whatever they need to in order to secure the currency of their growing wealth.  I've known of this law for many many years, and I see that it's not always enforced on the small-scale - that's fine, because 99.9% of those who use a bit or a shard here and there are not out to profit from what could become abuse of the resource.  Laws have reasoning behind them though, and I'm glad for this one.