How could this happen? When other abalone species became hard to find in the 1970s, divers exploring deep reefs discovered abundant white abalone. Average-sized reefs—the size of two soccer fields (1 hectare)—contained 2,000 to 10,000 white abalone at the center of white abalone distribution, the California Channel Islands. Divers took 20 to 60 metric tons (22–66 tons) of white abalone a year until no more legal-sized white abalone were left. By 1980, annual landings of legal catch were only a few kilograms. Biological inventories of the newly expanded Channel Islands National Park in 1980–81 revealed that the remaining white abalone population was down to only 12 per hectare (about 2.5 acres). Subsequent monitoring documented a continuing decline to only one per hectare by the late 1990s. Surveys of the park by submarine in 1996 and 1997 showed that the last few survivors were widely scattered, too far apart to effectively reproduce, and found only large shells, indicating that white abalone last reproduced in the 1960s. Survivors of the legal fishing were so few and so sparsely distributed that significant reproduction has not occurred since the fishery began in the 1970s. Those survivors are now dying of old age, alone on small, isolated deep reefs.
In 1998, scientists, attorneys, fishers, and mariculturists from the United States and Mexico, representing fishing cooperatives, conservation organizations, universities, state and federal agencies, and private enterprise, joined forces to develop a four-step strategy to prevent white abalone extinction and restore the species to a viable condition. Using public education, existing governmental processes, and research, they plan to: (1) locate survivors by surveying historic habitat; (2) collect brood stock; (3) breed and rear a new generation of brood stock in captivity; and (4) reestablish wild populations with refugia in Channel Islands National Park and other protected areas. The National Marine Fisheries Service designated white abalone a candidate for endangered species listing in 1998 and funded a status review for a listing determination.
The condition of white abalone is perilous, but monitoring in the park gave a confident early warning. With persistence and a willingness to explore new ways to care for marine species, there is still hope for restoring them and preventing other losses in the sea.
Photo Credit: National Park Service
gary_davis@nps.gov
Senior Scientist, Channel Islands National Park, California
Award-Winner Profile
BOB COOK WINS TRISH
PATTERSON–SCA AWARD
Given in recognition of resource management excellence in a small park, the Trish Patterson–SCA Award went to Bob Cook in 1998 for his work the previous year at National Park of American Samoa. Bob was the first resource manager to serve at the South Pacific park. From this tropical jungle wilderness, largely unexplored by NPS staff, Bob established an inventory and monitoring program and conducted inventories of freshwater streams, terrestrial snails, and coral reefs. He also collected baseline data on feral pig activity and reviewed the status of the population and habitat of the flying fox fruit bat. As a result, issues affecting park natural resources have been better defined and prioritized. In turn, this led to a broad expansion of the park resource management plan, enhancing the ability of the park to hire a resource management crew to address the top-priority resource issues.
Shoreline studies at Padre Island point to trash sources
by John Miller
Riparian monitoring focused on stream recovery in Canyonlands
by Charlie Schelz
Science-based planning at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
by John Neal and George Oviatt
Recurrent themes of water resources management plans
by David L. Vana-Miller
Program Center takes on geologic inventories
by Bruce Heise and Joe Gregson
Bats surveyed at Grand Canyon
by Elaine Leslie
Survey research provides management information
by Jean E. McKendry