Meet Devin Spencer, general manager at The Cultured Abalone Farm, grows this iconic Californian shellfish for both culinary uses and kelp forest restoration.
Black abalone are sensitive to climate change impacts, such as increasing water temperatures and increasing sedimentation events from intense fire and storm activity. These challenges make them more vulnerable to lethal disease and burial.
With a new $4.9 million grant through NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation, Greater Farallones Association is restoring imperiled bull kelp forests in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in California using innovative techniques.
A breakthrough in captive breeding of black abalone at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center promises to improve methods for spawning the endangered mollusk in the laboratory and, ultimately, to support the recovery of wild populations.
David Witting and Bill Hagey, share a passion for finding the now rare white abalone and understanding the movement and feeding behaviors of all abalone species.
