Why do abalone are expensive….?
Here in Australia, the abalone fields tend to be where seals hang out and where seals hang out, so do Great White Sharks. Quite a number of abalone divers have been attacked by Great Whites and several have died. I believe there is a commercial abalone farms off Port Lincoln in South Australia but that is also part of the marine environment. Harvesting of the abalone is done by a diver, generally with scuba tanks and working quite often alone. Some abalone divers use shark cages when harvesting. Diving time is limited due to decompression sickness. Weather conditions also change rapidly at sea, so there is also the dangers associated with that. Added to that is that abalone stocks are very easily overfished to the point of no return for the particular reef and therefore bag limit is strictly controlled. All these factors add to the costs involved. Australia produces 40% of the wild abalone meat used worldwide.
