MONITORING DISPERSAL RATES DURING INITIAL OUTPLANTING OF FUNCTIONALLY EXTINCT HATCHERY RAISED HALIOTIS KAMTSCHATKANA ​(PINTO ABALONE)

Haliotis kamtschatkana, or the pinto abalone, is the only abalone native to and present along Washington’s coast. Its population has severely declined in the last fifty years due to overharvest. Subsequent recruitment failure resulted in it being considered functionally extinct in Washington. Efforts are in progress to restore pinto abalone populations to self-sustaining densities through conservation aquaculture and the outplanting of hatchery-raised juveniles. Alongside other partners, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Puget Sound Restoration Fund have outplanted thousands of juveniles at dozens of sites across the San Juan Islands since the late 2000s and have refined many of their outplanting methods. However, the effects of outplant tube density on abalone dispersal are unknown. We examined density’s impact on dispersal rate from tubes by outplanting abalone in three densities and recording the number of abalone remaining in each tube for a week afterward. We counted the tubes every hour for the first 16 hours after outplanting which facilitated other interesting observations. We observed predation of what we believe to be healthy abalone by Amphissa columbiana and the possibility of dispersal encouraged by light sensitivity.

Presentation Preference: Oral

Primary Presenter: Larkin Garden, Catawba College (larkingarden@gmail.com)

Authors:

Larkin Garden, Catawba College  (legarden22@catawba.edu)

Ana Hoffman Sole, Cornell University  (abh226@cornell.edu)

Nate Schwarck, Western Washington University  (schwarn@wwu.edu)

Derek Smith, Western Washington University  (smithd85@wwu.edu)