SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA 01/13/07 3:05 PST Two men, including an Alameda restaurant owner, pleaded no contest in Sonoma County Superior Court last week to conspiracy charges related to harvesting abalone in a closed area or selling or buying sport-caught abalone, the Sonoma County district attorney's office said. Kalen Tanaka, 43, of Hayward, pleaded no contest Jan. 5 to conspiracy to commit a crime. He faces probation, a $20,000 fine and the lifetime revocation of his fishing license when he is sentenced Feb. 22. Restaurateur Jeffrey Chow, 36, also pleaded no contest to conspiracy to illegally harvest abalone for commercial purposes. He faces a $40,000 fine, 90 days in jail, probation and the lifetime loss of his fishing license on Feb. 22. The investigation began in 2003 with a tip to the special operations unit of the California Department of Fish and Game, Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said. Tanaka drove with other divers to the Sonoma and Mendocino Coasts to take legal limits of abalone and delivered them to Chow in Alameda, Passalacqua said. Fish and Game wardens observed the abalone harvesting on several occasions and got proof Chow paid approximately $40 for each abalone, Passalacqua said.