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The most reliable source of fresh, California-grown abalone from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border is The Cultured Abalone , an aquaculture farm that’s existed on Dos Pueblos Ranch along the Gaviota Coast for more than three decades now. The farm remains one of the few saving graces for fans of the beautifully shelled mollusk, whose native populations were decimated by disease and overfishing so much that commercial take of the animals was basically banned south of the San Francisco Bay in 1997.
Surprisingly, despite that track record, very few people outside of the fishing community or higher-end foodie worlds know that The Cultured Abalone even exists. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve explained this to people who stare back with blank eyes, confounded that an active aquaculture operation is happening just a stone’s throw from Highway 101.