Over 7 million tons of mollusc shells are discarded by the seafood industry each year as unwanted waste -- and the vast majority of these shells are either thrown in landfills or dumped at sea.

In 1955, 10-year-old David Thomas started selling red abalone shells from a wagon on a corner of his father’s property in Morro Bay. Thomas estimates that he sold more than 1,000 abalone shells, all ...