Selling Framed Abalone Shells

September 4, 2014

Question: I’ve been diving for abalone for years. After I get them home, I clean and polish the whole red abalone shell, and they are absolutely beautiful once the process is done. I like to give them away as gifts to friends, family, neighbors and strangers. I know that I cannot profit from any California game/wildlife. I want to build frames out of old barn wood and drift wood and then put the abalone in the middle of the frame. Instead of a painting of a shell in a frame, it would be an actual shell. My question is whether I can sell the frames for money and then gift the shell to the buyer? If I can do this, how do I do it legally for both parties? Thank you for your time and services in the office and out in the field. (Tom M.)

Answer: Great question, but the answer is no. You cannot sell a framed abalone shell even if you say you are only selling the frame and not the attached shell.

“Sell” includes offer or possess for sale, barter, exchange, or trade (Fish and Game Code, section 75). According to CDFW Lt. Dennis McKiver, the only way you could sell the frames legally is if when you are selling the frame, the person buying the frame has no idea that you are offering an abalone shell to go with it. If the person has been made aware that if he buys a frame, you will give him an abalone shell to go with it, then you would be guilty of selling abalone shells.