Professor of Anthropology Todd Braje Featured Speaker at Museum

Topic covers Chinese history, abalone fishing in Southern California and ecological factors

The Museum of Ventura County presents its next “Speaking of Ventura County” lecture series, 1 to 2:30 p.m., May 8, at the Agriculture Museum, 926 Railroad Ave, Santa Paula. Featured speaker Todd Braje, Professor of Anthropology at San Diego State University, will present the history of Chinese abalone fishing in southern California which took place at a time when the rest of California’s residents were captivated by gold fever. Braje, will share the culmination of over a decade of field, archival and laboratory work.

While the newly minted state of California was captivated by gold fever, a small group of enterprising Chinese immigrants recognized the untapped resources along her coast. Freed from both human and sea otter predation for decades, coastal California was teeming with abalone stocks. It was Chinese immigrants who realized the fortune to be made in fishing, processing, and exporting the abundant intertidal black abalone of southern and Baja California. Many Chinese immigrants came with the skills and knowledge to be successful fishermen. From these humble beginnings, they founded the commercial California abalone fishery and were responsible for its growth and expansion over the next several decades. Abalone fishing rose to become a multimillion dollar industry but overfishing, disease, and mismanagement combined to end all commercial abalone fishing along North America’s Pacific Coast and drive several species to the brink of extinction.

Braje will discuss the challenges Chinese immigrants faced, how their experiences shaped our nation’s identity, and how at the collapse of productive fisheries could teach us lessons in the future.

Todd Braje is a Professor of Anthropology at San Diego State University and has worked on the Northern Channel Islands for over fifteen years. Braje has conducted research on a variety of archaeological sites ranging from 12,000-year-old shell middens and stone tool scatters to nineteenth century fishing camps. His research centers on the archaeology of maritime societies, historical ecological approaches to understanding coastal hunter-gatherers, and maritime migrations. Braje most recent book was published in 2016 by the University of Utah Press titled, Shellfish for the Celestial Empire: The Rise and Fall of Commercial Abalone Fishing in California.

Admission is free to members; $5 for non-members. Ample free parking. For information, visit venturamuseum.org or call 805.653.0323