Tegner estimates that fewer than 2,500 white abalone remain in the wild, but, she says, Pathetically little is known about the whites because their depth range makes them so inaccessible. When the fishery collapsed in the late 1970s, no changes were made in abalone management. The only thing that happened was the reporting category for white abalone was eliminated, says Gary Davis, Chief Scientist at Channel Islands National Park and the ad hoc leader of the white abalones conservation consortium. There werent any to report. Marine scientists working to save the white abalone hired this research submersible to search the mollusk's historic haunts in the Channel Islands and retrieve enough individuals to start a breeding program.
Abalone are in peril worldwide.
Over 70 species populate waters from England to the Philippines. Of the eight species found along Californias coast, each named for the color or shape of its shell, most are struggling to survive. In 1997, the California Department of Fish and Game banned all commercial abalone harvesting. Only red abalone of a certain size may be collected by sport divers, without the advantage of scuba gear and only in waters north of San Francisco. Black abalone, found in the intertidal zone, have also been proposed for federal protection.