Beyond the Shell

Alexandria Firenzi

2025 / 26 minutes
United States / United States
English

Beyond the Shell, is a documentary concerning California's red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) population. It highlights the coastal cultures and economies which rely on this scarce marine resource. Since 2018, recreational abalone diving in California has been closed, affecting communities throughout the state with vaned motivating interests in red abalone's survival. The 2018 closure is predominantly the result of anthropogenically induced climate change, specifically the lack of balance found between kelp and sea urchin populations following extreme sea surface warming events. To bring awareness to modern fishery issues and their effects on culturally relevant species this film looks "beyond the shell at the stones of eight individuals of varied backgrounds and specialties throughout coastal California who have been affected by the 2018 fishery closure. The documentary argues for the responsible and sustainable management of red abalone populations in collaboration with Indigenous groups who have been managing local inlertidal systems along the eastern Pacific coastlines for generations. The film additionally highlights how archaeology, in collaboration with culfurar stakeholders, has the potential to reveal past climate systems and traditional maintenance of the eastern Pacific's intertidal enabling more informed environmental policy and management plans.