Abalone Recovery Program

An abalone recovery program is a structured effort to restore depleted Haliotis stocks through fishery closure, captive breeding, and outplanting. The US white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2001, the first marine invertebrate to be listed; black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) followed in 2009. NOAA Fisheries runs a captive-breeding and outplanting program with five-year action plans (2016 to 2020, 2021 to 2025) built on the recovery plan, with the goal of rebuilding wild densities high enough for spawning success, since low density blocks fertilization in broadcast spawners.