Testing Translocation as a Recovery Tool for Pink (Haliotis corrugata) and Green (Haliotis fulgens) Abalone in Southern California

Abstract

ABSTRACT Population declines of pink (Haliotis corrugata) and green (Haliotis fulgens) abalone in southern California forced the closure of the fisheries in 1995. Overfishing was the main factor contributing to decreasing landings, and in 2004 both pink and green abalone were identified as species of concern. Translocation of adults, moving solitary abalone together to create dense aggregations, is one of the strategies that has been proposed to overcome Allee effects and to enhance spawning success and recovery. Pink (n = 35) and green (n = 113) abalone were tagged and translocated to recovery sites with preexisting pink (n = 13) and green (n = 26) abalone. Translocation and preexisting abalone were tagged and monitored to determine their long-term survival, persistence at the site, and movement at 2 islands in southern California. The mortality associated with the tagging and translocations was low (<5%) including 1 dead pink abalone and 5 dead green abalone. The density of translocated pink abalone at ...