We were wandering around the local antique shops when I came across a nice old abalone shell. I've rather fancied an abalone shell for a while now, and when I stumbled across one, I figured it was meant to be! Abalones can be found along the coastal waters of every continent, except the Pacific coast of South America, the East Coast of the United States, the Arctic, and Antarctica. Abalone is the American name for this mollusc. The British name is ormer, and the meat of the ormer is considered a great delicacy. Overfishing in the Channel Islands has led to a dramatic depletion in numbers since the latter half of the 19th century. The gathering of ormers in the Channel Islands is now restricted to a number of "ormering tides", from January 1 to April 30, which occur on the full or new moon and two days following that. No ormers may be taken from the beach that are under 80 mm in shell length. Farming of Japanese and Chinese ormers, or awabi in Japanese, began in the...