California Sea Grant College Program

Once harvested commercially, the white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) is in danger of extinction and since 2002 has been under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act. Recent failed efforts to find remnant populations in the species’ historical deep-seafloor habitats underscore the animal’s scarcity. In the time between when the grant for the project was written and funded, NOAA Fisheries halted the collection of wild white abalone for research. It now appears that species recovery is either going to happen on its own over the course of several or more decades, or captive-bred white abalone will have to be outplanted in the wild. Outplanting is not without its own set of risks, as it may erode genetic diversity or introduce the withering syndrome pathogen into previously uninfected deep-water refuges. Just as worrisome is the potential to unknowingly introduce previously unknown pathogens.