Abalone is mainly eaten foot, and abalone viscera toxic and seasonal, toxic period in February to May each year, this period of abalone viscera can not eat. Abalone is one of the valuable "sea treasures", delicious flavor, rich in nutrients, known as the ocean "soft gold". Abalone is a valuable marine edible shellfish, known as "table gold, the crown of the sea treasures", its meat is tender, nutritious.

Abalone its name is fish, actually non-fish, species of primitive marine shellfish, monocoque mollusks. Because of its shape is similar to the human ear, so also called it "sea ear". Abalone usually grows in the lower water temperature of the seabed, footprint throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, recognized as the best place of origin for the northern part of Japan and Mexico, northeastern China is also a traditional producing areas.

The world has named 216 species of abalone, distributed in China's coastal abalone there are seven species, including the northern Bohai Bay produced wrinkled abalone and the southeast coast of the miscellaneous abalone most common.

The main places of abalone production in the world are Australia, China, Japan, the United States, Mexico, South Africa and other countries. Due to the high economic value of abalone, the abalone-producing countries attach great importance to the artificial nursery and breeding of abalone.