Moving the abalone through their stages is primarily a function of age. The average size of the harvested Abalone is 3.25 ounces, to 4 ounces in the shell. The meat usually represents about 30% of the abalone’s weight. Once it reaches its optimum weight, growth slows down tremendously in the Abalone Farm. A nine year old abalone can be as big as 7 inches. The shell just grows right along with the abalone as it matures, keeping the same shell throughout its lifetime.