Monterey Abalone Company

Co-owners Art Seavey and Trevor Fay are hands-on in every phase of the cultivation and harvest on a daily basis. Their operating goal is to duplicate the abalone's natural environment of growth in the ocean, so they arrive at the table as natural seafood of the highest quality.

Their custom cultivation system uses cages suspended in the water column from beneath the Commercial Wharf in Monterey Bay to produce virtually natural abalone habitats. The farm is fully compatible with the local marine environment and resources.

They start with “seed” abalone from hatcheries; the seeds are only about an inch in shell length and weigh just a fraction of an ounce. As the abalone grow, the number of abalone per habitat is reduced to maintain desired growth rates. The fastest growing abalone are selected for grow out to the largest sizes. California red abalone can grow as fast as inch per year under optimal conditions. It takes about four years to grow the abalone to market size; at least at 3 ½ inches in shell length and weigh a quarter-pound live weight.