Beyond the Shell
Date/Time: November 27th 6pm-7:30pm
(Viewing 6pm-6:30pm; Panel/Questions 6:30pm-7:30pm)
Location: Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87963651455
Panelists: Kanyon Sayer-Roods, Hillary Renick, Brian Tissot, Brian Brazeal, and JeremyMcFarland.
Panel Guide: Alexandria Firenzi
Join us for the premier of Beyond the Shell, a documentary concerning California’s red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) population which 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 varied 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 stories of nine 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 California’s red abalone populations in collaboration with Indigenous groups who have been managing local intertidal systems along the eastern Pacific coastlines for generations. The film additionally highlights how archaeology, in collaboration with cultural 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. Collaborators on this project include Alexandria Firenzi, Stacey Jones, Dan Bruns, Brian Brazeal, Kanyon Sayers-Roods (Hahashkani "Coyote Woman”), Hillary Renick, Leah Mata Fragua, Linda Yamane, Tim Thomas, Brian Tissot, Peter Raimondi, Triston McHugh, Jeremy McFarland, Art Seavey, Tsim Schneider, and Aryana Henthorne. We look forward to seeing you at the premier and welcome questions and comments during the panel following the film viewing.
We are humbly appreciative to have filmed along California’s coastline on traditional Indigenous homelands. We hope to honor the original peoples of California, their connections to the land and especially the red abalone through the preservation of their story. Let this acknowledgment serve as a reminder of continuing efforts to give recognition to the communities whose historic homelands we benefit from today.
