Photo: NOAA
White Abalone Survey
White Abalone are marine snails that live on the seafloor at depths between 25 and 60 meters. Historically, they were abundant on rocky reefs from Point Conception in California to Punta Abreojos in Baja California, Mexico. During the early 1970s, the Channel Islands were home to 1,000-5,000 white abalone per acre.
Prized for their tender meat, White Abalone were harvested intensely starting in the 1970s. By the 1990s, less than one white abalone per acre was left, and in May 2001, the species became the first marine invertebrate to receive federal protection as an endangered species.
In 2004, MARE worked with the California Department of Fish and Game and the Channel Islands Marine Research Institute to look for remaining abalone in the Channel Islands area and identify sites for abalone restoration. The survey found four abalone and mapped suitable abalone habitat. Divers subsequently deployed 16 baby abalone recruitment traps (BARTs).