Charles Van Damme was a San Francisco businessman who ran a ferry business in the early 1900s. Using the profits from his successful enterprise, he purchased a parcel of land over 1,800 acres in size on the Mendocino Coast near Little River. When he died in 1934, he left it to the State of California to be used for recreational purposes.
Today, Van Damme State Park features a diverse landscape, including a beach, the fern-covered Little River canyon, a unique Pygmy Forest, and over 10 miles of hiking trails. For that reason, it attracts lots of visitors, including fishermen.
Earlier this year, a couple went to Van Damme State Park to harvest purple sea urchins from an intertidal zone. These urchins have edible gonads known as uni, which are prized for use in sushi because of their sweet, creamy, and briny flavor.
Unbeknownst to the couple, they were being observed by a California Department of Fish and Wildlife officer using a spotting scope. The officer noticed the woman “discreetly” concealed what appeared to be an abalone in her pants.
Abalone is a critically endangered sea snail. A delicacy, abalone is rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. The meaty red abalone, found from Oregon to Baja California, is the largest of the world’s 56 known abalone species and can grow to 12 inches across and weigh more than three pounds.
Like the bison for Native Americans of the Plains, abalone was vital to the Indigenous people along the Pacific coast. In addition to food, they were used for dyes, and their shells were used for jewelry and even currency. And like the buffalo, their population plummeted from overfishing, poaching and habitat loss.
Once numbering in the millions, six of the species are now designated as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Then, the red abalone population dropped by approximately 85% following the collapse of kelp forests in the area due to a marine heatwave in 2014. As a result, they are now heavily protected. All recreational and commercial fishing of red abalone is closed statewide in California through at least April 11, 2036.
After seeing the woman hide the abalone, the officer left his observation point, contacted the pair in the parking lot and performed a license and catch inspection. The woman immediately surrendered a small abalone from her pants. Suspecting it was not the only one, the officer then requested assistance from a female wildlife officer to conduct a search.
The suspect then voluntarily relinquished a second abalone, also from her pants. The woman was then cited for illegally taking two abalone. According to the California DWF, the man accompanying the woman complied with officers and did not possess any abalone.
Obviously, it is illegal to take or possess any abalone species in California. If convicted of poaching, the woman faces up to $40,000 in fines and one year in jail.
Like Charles, Jean Claude is another famous Van Damme who hails from Belgium. The ‘80s and ‘90s action star played plenty of cop roles in his storied acting career. Had he been portraying a Fish and Wildlife officer patrolling the park that day, I’m certain he would have roundhouse kicked the female suspect so hard the abalone would have flown from her pants. He would have then said to his partner, “Get her the shell out of here.”
I miss cheesy ‘80s action movies.
Reg Wydeven is a partner with the Appleton-based law firm of McCarty Law LLP. He can be reached at pcbusiness@postcrescent.com.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Woman tries to hide abalone, endangered snail, in her pants | Column
Reporting by Reg Wydeven, For Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
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