FINAL WHITE ABALONE RECOVERY PLAN (Haliotis sorenseni) Prepared by The White Abalone Recovery Team for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources October 2008 RECOVERY PLAN FOR WHITE ABALONE (Haliotis sovenseni) Prepared by National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Regional Office ~ationalwarineFisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration White Abalone Recovery Plan DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions which are believed to be required to recover and/or protect listed species. Plans are published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), sometimes prepared with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, state agencies, and others. Objectives will be obtained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views or the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the plan formulation, other than NMFS. They represent the official position of NMFS only after they have been signed by the Assistant Administrator. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status and the completion of recovery actions. LITERATURE CITATION SHOULD READ AS FOLLOWS: National Marine Fisheries Service. 2008. White Abalone Recovery Plan (Haliotis sorenseni). National Marine Fisheries Service, Long Beach, CA. ADDITIONAL COPIES MAY BE OBTAINED FROM: United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Regional Office 501 W. Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200 Long Beach, CA 90802-4213 On Line: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/ Recovery plans can be downloaded from the National Marine Fisheries Service website: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/recovery/plans.htm Cover photograph of a white abalone by John Butler of the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center. i White Abalone Recovery Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS DISCLAIMER................................................................................................................................I TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................................IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... V LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ...............................................................XIII I. BACKGROUND..................................................................................................................... I-1 A. STATUS OF THE SPECIES.........................................................................................................I-1 B. SPECIES’ DESCRIPTION AND TAXONOMY ...............................................................................I-1 C. POPULATION TRENDS AND DISTRIBUTION..............................................................................I-3 HISTORIC AND CURRENT RANGE ..................................................................................................................I-3 EXPLOITATION HISTORY ...............................................................................................................................I-4 POPULATION TRENDS....................................................................................................................................I-4 D. LIFE HISTORY/ECOLOGY .....................................................................................................I-10 REPRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................I-10 LARVAL STAGE, SETTLEMENT, AND METAMORPHOSIS...............................................................................I-11 JUVENILE STAGE.........................................................................................................................................I-12 ADULT STAGE.............................................................................................................................................I-13 E. HABITAT CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................................I-14 DISTRIBUTION.............................................................................................................................................I-14 ABUNDANCE AND QUALITY OF SUITABLE HABITAT ...................................................................................I-15 F. CRITICAL HABITAT...............................................................................................................I-16 G. REASONS FOR LISTING/CURRENT THREATS .........................................................................I-16 LISTING FACTORS AND CURRENT THREATS................................................................................................I-16 CURRENT THREATS.....................................................................................................................................I-21 H. CONSERVATION MEASURES.................................................................................................I-25 PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS.................................................................................................................I-25 NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE CONSERVATION MEASURES FOR WHITE ABALONE......................I-25 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CONSERVATION MEASURES FOR WHITE ABALONE...........................................I-25 NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY CONSERVATION MEASURES FOR WHITE ABALONE ................................I-26 STATE OF CALIFORNIA CONSERVATION MEASURES FOR WHITE ABALONE ................................................I-26 MEXICAN CONSERVATION MEASURES FOR WHITE ABALONE ....................................................................I-26 I. KNOWN BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS/NEEDS..........................................................................I-27 II. RECOVERY STRATEGY .................................................................................................II-1 A. KEY FACTS AND ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................................... II-1 B. PRIMARY FOCUS AND JUSTIFICATION OF RECOVERY EFFORTS ............................................ II-1 III. RECOVERY GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND CRITERIA........................................... III-1 A. RECOVERY GOAL................................................................................................................III-1 B. RECOVERY OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................III-1 C. RECOVERY CRITERIA ..........................................................................................................III-2 IV. RECOVERY PROGRAM ................................................................................................IV-1 A. STEP-DOWN OUTLINE .........................................................................................................IV-1 B. NARRATIVE.........................................................................................................................IV-4 ii White Abalone Recovery Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS RECOVERY ACTION 1. ASSESS AND MONITOR SUBPOPULATIONS IN THE WILD IN COOPERATION WITH THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES, PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS AND THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT. ........................................................................................................................................... IV-4 RECOVERY ACTION 2. IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE EXISTING AND POTENTIAL WHITE ABALONE HABITAT THROUGH ACOUSTIC REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY. ................................................................ IV-9 RECOVERY ACTION 3. PROTECT WHITE ABALONE POPULATIONS AND THEIR HABITAT...................... IV-10 RECOVERY ACTION 4. CONTINUE, REFINE AND EXPAND CAPTIVE PROPAGATION AND ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR WHITE ABALONE IN CALIFORNIA WITH THE GOAL OF ARTIFICIALLY ENHANCING POPULATIONS IN THE WILD. ............................................................................................................................................ IV-13 RECOVERY ACTION 5. PLAN AND IMPLEMENT A PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION PLAN. ............ IV-16 RECOVERY ACTION 6. SECURE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR WHITE ABALONE RECOVERY. .................... IV-16 V. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE .................................................................................. V-1 VI. LITERATURE CITED.....................................................................................................VI-1 APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................ A-1 WHITE ABALONE BROODSTOCK COLLECTION AND HOLDING PROTOCOL ................................ A-1 APPENDIX B. ........................................................................................................................... B-1 NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE WHITE ABALONE GENETICS MANAGEMENT PLAN.... B-1 APPENDIX C...........................................................................................................................