A polished shell of Pāua Abalone (Haliotis iris)
The blackfoot paua (Haliotis iris) is a species of abalone found in the cool coastal waters around New Zealand (and nearby islands such as Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands). Coincidentally, the word “Haliotis” derives from Ancient Greek and means sea ear—because abalones superficially resemble human ears. Abalones are large marine gastropods (sea snails) which have long been prized by humans for having delicious meat and gorgeous shells. The blackfoot paua is no exception—not only is it fished for its flesh, but the Māori people, who are indigenous to New Zealand, esteem it as a treasure to be used in culturally significant works of art. To quote thefeaturedcreature.com, “Typically, the blackfoot abalone is used in Māori carvings to represent eyes; these eyes are associated with the stars or whetū, the symbolic eyes of ancestors that gaze down from the night sky.”
Iwi Le Comte Maori Carving with mount (2011, Totara wood and Paua shell)
The shells of blackfoot paua are not naturally iridescent: craft workers expend a great deal of energy grinding away the inconspicuous neutral colored exterior so that the brilliant whirls and swirling colors of the nacre are revealed. In addition to its lovely shell and tasty flesh the blackfoot paua can also produce scintillating blue-green pearls which are known as blue eyris pearls.
Blue Eyris Pearls next to a polished Pāua abalone shell
Like the giant triton, the blackfoot paua is suffering for its beauty. New Zealand has many sensible regulations to prohibit overfishing the paua: divers must free dive for the mollusks, and fisherfolk can only collect a limited number of specimens of a certain size. Unfortunately even a first-world nation only has so many resources to devote to conservation, and marine experts expect that the blackfoot paua is suffering from overharvest. Hopefully humankind can find a way to balance the demands of traditional carving with the needs of conservation: Māori carving is very beautiful, but so too are the living shellfish…
Maori wood carving of Tawhiri, god of storms (at the Arataki Visitor Centre, Auckland, New Zealand)
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5 comments
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February 25, 2014 at 4:26 AM
missyjamie
There was also a breeding program effort to revitalize the population in Malborough Sound, not sure how it turned out though, but I hope there are other similar programs elsewhere. Nice post, I’ve never heard the paua referred to as “black footed”.
February 25, 2014 at 4:47 PM
Wayne
I have heard about all sorts of breeding programs to bring back endangered mollusks, but the newspapers and tv shows only report on such endeavors when they start…We never get to find out what happens to the poor baby snails/clams/oysters. I hope the little guys are well (but I harbor deep misgivings).
I’ll check the internet to see if anyone else says “black footed”–it does sound more like a ferret than a snail….
February 28, 2014 at 4:38 AM
missyjamie
Endangered animals like species of birds, etc. seem to get much higher priority in the conservation game (just my opinion) people are less likely to want to preserve a ‘slimy snail thing’ that they don’t really hear much about apart from eating it and using it to make jewellery… it draws less attention than the ‘cute birdies’ I suppose? Not that the cute birdies don’t need help its just that some species seem to be favoured over others because people like them more.
Ha ha it does sound very much like a ferret.
February 26, 2014 at 4:58 AM
Beatrix
OOOOOoooo pretty!
Tell Pantone I nominate ‘Paua’ as the color of the year 2015!
February 26, 2014 at 9:27 PM
Wayne
I wish we could have “iridescent” as color of the year! Imagine if our microwaves and Kitchenaid mixers looked like the abalone shell…