Landings of fished abalone (Haliotis spp.) have significantly decreased in the last decades and global production has drastically changed from fishing to farming. In particular, multiple stressors related to climate change and overfishing are threatening this resource in California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico. In Mexico, important efforts have been devoted by fishing cooperatives to produce abalone seeds for restocking purposes, but recently most of these seeds are sent to grow-out systems (Fig.1). We are exploring multiple strategies to enhance production, restore natural populations and reduce uncertainty. For example, the establishment of no-take zones to increase wild abalone densities are promising tools, however, we need to promote additional actions such as conservation aquaculture and subsequent restocking efforts. Another potential strategy are adult aggregations through translocations to increase reproductive potential within no-take zones.
We present an array of strategies undertaken across Baja California. In San Jeronimo Island and Puerto Canoas the local fishing cooperatives in collaboration with academic institutions are developing mariculture systems for red and green abalones. We conducted a restocking experiment with 1080 red abalones produced at San Jeronimo Island. We tested two shell lengths, juveniles 33 ± 3 mm, and adults 72 ± 5 mm to compare movement, survival, and predation. Also, at Todos Santos Island we explored the growth of 348 red abalones 51 ± 7 mm, in cages attached to the bottom. We conducted translocations with several abalone species at different no-take zones in Baja. At El Rosario Bay, we translocated 161 green abalones, H. fulgens, 25 pink, H. corrugata, and 125 black, H. cracherodii. At Guadalupe Island, we established 2 no-take zones and translocated 461 green abalone. In this presentation, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities that these strategies face in the path to recover abalones and achieve sustainable production.