By Jenna Peterson. CalMatters via Bay City News.
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California has 44 state symbols, including a state folk dance, a dinosaur and a mushroom, but Assemblywoman Diane Dixon says we need another one: an official state shell.
And he says the shell of the black abalone, an endangered sea snail, is the ideal choice: representing the threat of climate change and honoring its history with Native American tribes.
“In my legislative package, we have a lot of serious bills related to public safety and business taxes, and one of my staff members said we don't have a state shell,” said Dixon, a Republican from Newport Beach, In an interview. “I'm from the coastal district with 37 miles of coastal sand on the Pacific Ocean, and I thought we should look at something that protects that vital and critical natural resource.”
No opposition has emerged to his bill. The Assembly approved it by a 72-0 vote in April; The Senate is expected to vote soon on sending Assembly Bill 2504 to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The black abalone shell, unique to the coasts of California and northern Mexico, could become one of the 15 official state shells in the United States. It has a rich history for the region's Native American tribes: the snail was a food source for thousands of years, and the tribes used the shell for trading and making jewelry and ceremonial ornaments.
Last weekend, Dixon spoke about his proposal at KelpFest in Laguna Beach. Before taking the stage, Adelia Sandoval and other members of the Juaneña Band of Missionary Indians, Acjachemen Nation gave a blessing.
“Part of their ritual was to honor and bless the ocean and the event was smoke rising from the abalone shell,” Dixon recalled. “They had no idea I was going to be talking about this.”
She said her announcement was “very moving” for both her and the Native Americans who provided the blessing.
“My staff called this, given all the seriousness of other laws in our times with inflation and all these other issues, like homelessness, a fun bill,” he said. “But now it's more than fun. Last weekend I realized that it is really meaningful to people. And I feel honored to be able to do this.”
Another reason Dixon chose black abalone was to raise awareness among Californians of the environmental dangers they face. Black abalone became an endangered species in 2009 due to threats including overfishing, disease and natural disasters.
In 1983, the spread of wither foot syndrome, a deadly disease that affects the snail's digestive organs, killed at least 80% of black abalone in Southern California. The town also took a big hit in 2020 after the Dolan Fire in Big Sur.
“We want people to know that it is a rare and endangered object and to leave it where it is,” Dixon said.
At an Assembly committee hearing, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley spoke alongside Dixon to introduce the bill. In an interview today, he said “it will help us provide more education to the community and inform people about the types of things that threaten this species.”
Foley's brother-in-law studies the reproductive habits of black abalone and said they have had many conversations over dinner about their relationship to climate change.
“Scientists are studying abalone to see the ways in which it adapts to be able to resist climate change, to resist some of these diseases that have threatened it, to resist warmer waters where it needs to thrive in colder waters,” he said.
“So I think it can be used as a species where we can learn the adaptive techniques that it uses and how we can model those techniques in our daily lives and in our planning,” he added.
If chosen as the state shell, the black abalone will be permanently enshrined in the California State Capitol Museum.
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