Pinto Abalone Outplanting 2024

In April 2024, biologists and staff from WDFW, Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF), and the Seattle Aquarium conducted annual pinto abalone outplanting and broodstock collection in the Salish Sea - critical actions that support pinto abalone recovery in Washington. This large marine snail is state-listed as endangered and is the only abalone species found in Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska.
Though this culturally significant sea snail may look humble in nature, it is a powerful ecosystem engineer - quietly hard at work grazing drift kelp and fuzzy algae from the seafloor. Like an underwater Roomba, abalone clear fallen kelp blades from the rocky reef, creating “clean” space for the next generation of kelp and invertebrates to grow.
To support pinto abalone populations, biologists capture genetically diverse adult abalone called “broodstock” from the wild and bring them back to PSRF’s state-of-the-art conservation hatchery to breed and produce future generations of healthy abalone. Once the captive-born offspring are mature enough to survive on their own, biologists release the juvenile abalone into wild rocky reef habitat in a process called “outplanting.” Over the course of one week in April 2024, almost 6,500 juveniles were released to rocky reef habitats in nine locations. Since 2009, more than 55,000 juvenile abalone representing over 250 genetically distinct families have been released at 36 sites around the San Juan islands. Not every juvenile abalone released will survive to adulthood, so releasing large numbers at carefully selected sites ensures that enough individuals persist to help support the population.
Since 2003, WDFW has been working collaboratively to help recover pinto abalone populations in Washington and to return populations to self-sustainable levels. The abalone recovery team includes a suite of private, non-profit, tribal, government and academic partners including WDFW, PSRF, Seattle Aquarium, Samish Indian Nation, the Makah and Lummi tribes, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Northwest Straits Commission, Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Skagit and Clallam County Marine Resources Committees, Shannon Point Marine Center / Western Washington University, SeaDoc Society, University of Washington, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and others.
To learn more about pinto abalone and recovery efforts, visit wdfw.wa.gov/pinto-abalone.