Laguna Beach Independent By Ted Reckas 
Marine biologist Nancy Caruso quizzes Thurston Middle School students prior to spring break. After years reviving local kelp beds with seedlings nurtured by students, marine biologist Nancy Caruso is attempting underwater farming with a different species: she's intent on reintroducing the nearly wiped out green abalone to the rock reefs off Laguna Beach. After west coast abalone stocks collapsed in recent decades, the species became a rallying cry for marine conservationists. Commercial and recreational harvesting of the mollusk was banned in 1996. Now, Caruso's one-woman crusade will rely on aquaculture to regenerate what some researchers deem a local marine ecosystem in decline. The 37-year old Garden Grove resident recently pried loose some green abalone specimens from two sites in Laguna Beach under a state-approved research permit. With the support of city officials, Caruso has also applied for a $70,000 grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service to fund a 500-mollusk abalone farm for species restoration. Grant seekers will learn the results in June.
Daniel Peterson shows off kelp blades that will produce spores in the classroom tanks for the next generation of kelp. "People pay big money to go to Little Cayman, for instance, and see reefs that are untouched. There aren't many places in the world you can go anymore and see pristine reef or pay for a glass bottom boat tour to see kelp forest that's untouched. love nature and love the idea of national parks. Why not have pure nature in the ocean here in Laguna?" she asked. City Manager Ken Frank, too, likes the idea. "Generally, people are interested in trying to preserve marine life. To the extent that we can…reintroduce abalone to our coast, it's a benefit for everybody." Under Caruso's proposal, she intends to nurture 500 green abalones, which would eventually be transplanted in a location she would not reveal. "I would put them all on one area that's kind of hard to find, out of the way of general beach diving," she said. In the meantime, the animals she harvested are being kept in tanks. Their feces is being analyzed at the state Department of Fish and Game shellfish lab for bacteria that causes withering foot syndrome, a factor in the abalone's demise that could also affect the odds of success for Caruso's project. Even as a 10-year-old, Caruso was captivated by marine biology. As an adult, her fascination led to jobs on a Mississippi catfish farm, selling fish-farming equipment on the West Coast, and working for Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific as a water chemist. Since 2002, with grant financing from various sources, she's cobbled together a living replanting kelp forests off Orange County. Now, she's intent on restoring abalone to the coastal waters, too. She's not stopping there either. Caruso has a Toyota-funded third project involving turning classrooms at Huntington Beach High School into white sea-bass nurseries next year. Re-introducing abalone to the wild is not easy, said Tom Mc- Cormick, a marine biologist and abalone conservation expert, currently advising the Aquarium of the Pacific on growing white abalone. Long a proponent of abalone farming, McCormick's efforts planting 10,000 juvenile mollusks in the waters off Catalina Island proved an exercise in frustration. "We'd go back in a year and maybe you'd find one or two out of 10,000. The problem with abalone is everything likes to eat them, including us. Lobsters, crabs, cabezon, sheep head, sea stars, octopus, everybody," he said, adding that when eco-systems become imbalanced, there are repercussions that scientists can't anticipate. McCormick's experience reflects the daunting task of revitalizing an ecosystem a single species at a time. "We assume there were abalone before, so we'll put them back and it will be fine, but things may have changed," he said. "Some areas where there were abalone populations before have turned into brittle star barrens. You introduce abalone but the brittle stars simply out compete them. The abalone can't get any food." While McCormick praised Caruso's initiative, he pointed out the most successful abalone restoration program is a hugely expensive effort by Japan's government that placed hundreds of thousands of animals on reefs. Without similar financial support, Caruso's projects run on a shoe-string budget, relying on sixth-grade manpower from Richard Selin's science class at Thurston Middle School and others in the county. Students sprout kelp in classroom tanks for Caruso, who transfers the fledgling blades of Macrocystis pyrifera to local reefs. Their efforts enrich an essential habitat for fish and other organisms, damaged by fluctuating ocean temperatures, storms and pollution. With an assist from the Laguna Ocean Foundation, Caruso is also organizing "Kelp Fest" at Main Beach on April 24, an event to raise public awareness about marine restoration efforts underway. "The sixth grade curriculum is about ecology and our case study is our local marine community, the kelp forest," said Selin, who also chaperones students during a week-long science camp on Catalina Island where they study and snorkel through kelp forests. "Hopefully the more we learn about it, the more we appreciate it." McCormick also values educating beach-goers about a decimated species he says were once worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. "That is worth all the money she's spending, all her time and effort," he said. If her project wins funding, Caruso intends to buy juvenile abalone from The Cultured Abalone, a farm in Goleta, Calif. The mini mollusks may share a tank with kelp for a school year before they are big enough to survive the transition to the ocean. Once three inches in diameter, the only predators strong enough to pull them off rocks are octopi or humans, according to Caruso. There is little research to show how many abalones live in the area, but anecdotal stories from local residents indicate the animal was once abundant. "Marine ecosystems are resilient. I hope I live long enough to see them in full restoration," she said. [caption id="attachment_4247" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="Get your Ocean Lover Tshirts, Hats, Swearshirts, Bags etc"]
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Marine biologist Nancy Caruso quizzes Thurston Middle School students prior to spring break. After years reviving local kelp beds with seedlings nurtured by students, marine biologist Nancy Caruso is attempting underwater farming with a different species: she's intent on reintroducing the nearly wiped out green abalone to the rock reefs off Laguna Beach. After west coast abalone stocks collapsed in recent decades, the species became a rallying cry for marine conservationists. Commercial and recreational harvesting of the mollusk was banned in 1996. Now, Caruso's one-woman crusade will rely on aquaculture to regenerate what some researchers deem a local marine ecosystem in decline. The 37-year old Garden Grove resident recently pried loose some green abalone specimens from two sites in Laguna Beach under a state-approved research permit. With the support of city officials, Caruso has also applied for a $70,000 grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service to fund a 500-mollusk abalone farm for species restoration. Grant seekers will learn the results in June. 
Daniel Peterson shows off kelp blades that will produce spores in the classroom tanks for the next generation of kelp. "People pay big money to go to Little Cayman, for instance, and see reefs that are untouched. There aren't many places in the world you can go anymore and see pristine reef or pay for a glass bottom boat tour to see kelp forest that's untouched. love nature and love the idea of national parks. Why not have pure nature in the ocean here in Laguna?" she asked. City Manager Ken Frank, too, likes the idea. "Generally, people are interested in trying to preserve marine life. To the extent that we can…reintroduce abalone to our coast, it's a benefit for everybody." Under Caruso's proposal, she intends to nurture 500 green abalones, which would eventually be transplanted in a location she would not reveal. "I would put them all on one area that's kind of hard to find, out of the way of general beach diving," she said. In the meantime, the animals she harvested are being kept in tanks. Their feces is being analyzed at the state Department of Fish and Game shellfish lab for bacteria that causes withering foot syndrome, a factor in the abalone's demise that could also affect the odds of success for Caruso's project. Even as a 10-year-old, Caruso was captivated by marine biology. As an adult, her fascination led to jobs on a Mississippi catfish farm, selling fish-farming equipment on the West Coast, and working for Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific as a water chemist. Since 2002, with grant financing from various sources, she's cobbled together a living replanting kelp forests off Orange County. Now, she's intent on restoring abalone to the coastal waters, too. She's not stopping there either. Caruso has a Toyota-funded third project involving turning classrooms at Huntington Beach High School into white sea-bass nurseries next year. Re-introducing abalone to the wild is not easy, said Tom Mc- Cormick, a marine biologist and abalone conservation expert, currently advising the Aquarium of the Pacific on growing white abalone. Long a proponent of abalone farming, McCormick's efforts planting 10,000 juvenile mollusks in the waters off Catalina Island proved an exercise in frustration. "We'd go back in a year and maybe you'd find one or two out of 10,000. The problem with abalone is everything likes to eat them, including us. Lobsters, crabs, cabezon, sheep head, sea stars, octopus, everybody," he said, adding that when eco-systems become imbalanced, there are repercussions that scientists can't anticipate. McCormick's experience reflects the daunting task of revitalizing an ecosystem a single species at a time. "We assume there were abalone before, so we'll put them back and it will be fine, but things may have changed," he said. "Some areas where there were abalone populations before have turned into brittle star barrens. You introduce abalone but the brittle stars simply out compete them. The abalone can't get any food." While McCormick praised Caruso's initiative, he pointed out the most successful abalone restoration program is a hugely expensive effort by Japan's government that placed hundreds of thousands of animals on reefs. Without similar financial support, Caruso's projects run on a shoe-string budget, relying on sixth-grade manpower from Richard Selin's science class at Thurston Middle School and others in the county. Students sprout kelp in classroom tanks for Caruso, who transfers the fledgling blades of Macrocystis pyrifera to local reefs. Their efforts enrich an essential habitat for fish and other organisms, damaged by fluctuating ocean temperatures, storms and pollution. With an assist from the Laguna Ocean Foundation, Caruso is also organizing "Kelp Fest" at Main Beach on April 24, an event to raise public awareness about marine restoration efforts underway. "The sixth grade curriculum is about ecology and our case study is our local marine community, the kelp forest," said Selin, who also chaperones students during a week-long science camp on Catalina Island where they study and snorkel through kelp forests. "Hopefully the more we learn about it, the more we appreciate it." McCormick also values educating beach-goers about a decimated species he says were once worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. "That is worth all the money she's spending, all her time and effort," he said. If her project wins funding, Caruso intends to buy juvenile abalone from The Cultured Abalone, a farm in Goleta, Calif. The mini mollusks may share a tank with kelp for a school year before they are big enough to survive the transition to the ocean. Once three inches in diameter, the only predators strong enough to pull them off rocks are octopi or humans, according to Caruso. There is little research to show how many abalones live in the area, but anecdotal stories from local residents indicate the animal was once abundant. "Marine ecosystems are resilient. I hope I live long enough to see them in full restoration," she said. [caption id="attachment_4247" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="Get your Ocean Lover Tshirts, Hats, Swearshirts, Bags etc"]