Decided to add seashore foraging for food/materials to my skill set. Been reading. Anyone know of a good Northern California course to accelerate the learning/experience process?

Thanks.

I don't know of any specific course, but I would suggest checking any archaeological site reports on villages along the coast in your area of interest. Abalone are a sure bet, but there are meticulous game laws regarding their take. Mussels are common, but check for seasonal restrictions (red tide). Some kelp is edible. My colleagues tell me limpets are tasty.

The California coast is a banquet ready to happen. Been that way for 13,000 years.

Part of my point!

if a cast net is legal, they can be very productive... bait and schooled larger fish... they do take a little practice to use

Tangential seashore foraging story -

I was walking along the beach at Ft. Pickens, FL, thinking about the errands I needed to run, including buying a plastic diverter plug to replace my lawnmower's clipping bag and convert the mower to mulching mode. Just then, I spotted an red plastic bit of trash bobbing in the surf. I went to collect it for the trashbin, and it turned out to be the exact diverter plug to fit my make and model of lawnmower!

Nice!

It was probably the one you lost.

Mother nature's thank you.

A friend and I were beach combing on San Miguel Island. He had lost the paddle for his inflatable dinghy, and so he was glad to see one in a pile of rubble on the beach. It turned out to be the very one he had lost!

Okay, I have pulled together snorkel diving gear, including wetsuit and hard soled booties to deal with California's cold water and rocky beach entries. I have a fishing license which in California allows limited harvest of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and kelp, plus a lobster report card - just submitted my first abalone report card [2 trips, 2 abalone]. I have driven north and south along the coast, and begun collecting books and maps. Looking for classes or guided foraging that is not too expensive [free would be fine!]

Don't forget a Geiger counter to check radiation on flotsam that may have come by way of Fukushima.

"Sea Vegetables" by Evelyn McConnaughey is a pretty good book on edible seaweeds.
http://www.amazon.com/Vegetables-Harvest...=sea+vegetables

-Blast

Do you really need any? I saw plenty of detailed online reports on abalone foraging and general dive hunting, which includes the strategy and tactics you can follow to succeed. What I would highly recommend instead is to have a dive buddy, even if only the one watching you from ashore.

For the diving gear it would be nice to add a float on a rope and some weights to make diving in wetsuit easier.

By the way, to the end of the past summer the water here became so warm that it was possible to swim without a wetsuit. Not that I'm suggesting doing that but that's definitely a nice trend for any diver here.

Thanks.