Slightly OT: Legal Abalone Transport Technique

Hi all, I'm cross posting from fishsniffer, 'cause I know that lots of folks here ab-dive from their kayaks and I thought that this information might be helpful to the board (since there are ton of *very* skilled fishermen and ab-divers here!).

I hope that I'm not jinxing myself by "counting my abs before
they're popped," but ...
 
My wife and I are going to be spending a week in Gualala in August
after I finish taking the bar exam at the end of July. We're going
to be ab-diving at least 2 or 3 days. It's not at all a given that
we're going to be able to get any keeper abs: i) we've only ab-dived
twice before with one keeper between us; ii) the tides aren't good
at all that week; and, iii) weather/swell/strange planetary
alignments might keep us from diving at all. If we do manage a few
keeper abs, however, we would like to take a couple back to Davis to
share with family and friends. Of course we'll scrupulously adhere
to the daily take and bag limits, so pursuant to 14 CCR 29.15(c)
it'll be theoretically possible and legal for us to have six keepers
between us when we're ready to head home to Davis.
 
Our problem is how to preserve and transport the abs back home
without violating 14 CCR 29.15(g): "Abalones must not be removed
from their shell, except when being prepared for immediate
consumption." Without this rule, I'd clean, slice, vacuum-pack, and
freeze the abs in our vacation house and be done with it.
 
The best legal solution, as far as I can tell, would be to get the
abs on our last vacation day so that we can just keep them live in a
damp, dark, and cool location until we're back in Davis. I'd
probably pack the abs in some kelp (which is legal under 14 CCR
30.00) and keep them in a cooler for the drive back.
 
Unfortunately, I have no way of predicting when we're going to be
actually taking the abs -- depending on the conditions, we might get
them on the first day of our vacation or the last day of our
vacation.
 
What is the best way for me to try to preserve the abs without
removing them from their shells? I figure that at most they'll need
to keep for a week before consumption. Should I try to keep them
alive in damp kelp in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator? The
same in a cooler kept indoors but not refrigerated? Should I freeze
them whole and uncleaned? Can I try to clean them as best as
possible without *fully* detaching the muscle from the inside of the
shell (sort of like filleting a rockfish on a boat but leaving its
skin barely attached)?
 
We'll have access to a freezer and a vacuum sealer on this trip.
 
Thanks in advance for any ideas!

What you should do is dive the first diveable day and work on your technique, ect, but only take one or two abs.  Try to figure out what area is best to get them in and come back on the last day and get your limits.  Eat the first abalone while you're out there.  

I've had them stay alive in the cooler (no fresh water, just ice-packs) for about 12 hours, but I wouldn't expect them to go past overnight.  If they get warm or get fresh water on them they'll die.  If  you gouge them with the iron they'll bleed to death within a day too.

I'll be up at Gualala in August also for a couple of days around the 23rd.

From my experience it seems like you average 1 good day for every three rough days. That's the good news, this year the weather pattren has been rougher, so who knows.

As for getting the abs home, there was a recent running topic on a fishing forum about abs and cleaning and storing. Several people said they throw them in the freezer in a baggie in the shell and clean them later.

Technically you can't even clean your abs until you eat them, even at home! But there is not provision in the rules about how to handle those left over steaks because you couldn't eat the whole ab.

Screw California game laws, they are made with the sole purpose of convicting poachers and don't even consider the law abiding fishermans needs.

Another great example of fishing rules is: if you catch a rockfish, you can't transport it in water deeper than 120 feet. This could mean passing 100 feet off of Pt. Reyes in the fog or following a bay for a mile and half instead of cutting across the outside in a mile.

All this bull is forcing me to break little rules because they are stupid because they literally force you to waste gas and waste fish. Oh, oh, that ab steak you threw away because you couldn't eat it and can't save it because it wasn't in the shell? There is also a law about wasting  fish!

The reason why they have to be in the shell is so that they can tell they were legal sized, and easilly count the number of abs.  A 10" ab has 3x the meat of a barely legal one, so they need to be whole, and in the shell to verify this.  I see no reason you couldn't remove the guts without removing the foot from the shell though.  There is absolutely no reason to take them out of the shell to freeze them either.  Steaks in the shell, steaks out of the shell, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

Once in your home, wardens would need a warrant to riffle through your fridge/freezer - do whatever you want then because they won't get a warrant unless you get busted doing some serious comercial level poaching.

BTW, you can posess rockfish at any depth, just can't be wetting a line deeper than 120'.

Thanks for the good advice!  I'll let y'all know how things turn out (if we get any abs !

-- Dan

I have had abs stay alive in a cooler or refrig for 3-4 days.  They are tougher than you think.  Pop a few, eat a few, then load up before you leave.

Don't sweat the tides, they really arent all that helpful.