ECOLOGICAL DATA
Distribution: scattered, mostly found along outer coast.
Habitat: attach to firm (rocky) substrate in waters with high salinity and some
wave or current action; planktonic larvae dispersed by currents; tend to settle in
recently grazed areas, attracted by chemicals secreted by colonizing algae; adults often
colonize kelp beds.
Tidal elevation: intertidal to over 100 m subtidal depth; optimum is subtidal,
from 0 to 6 m depth.
Food: herbivore; very young feed on diatoms and attached microalgae; juveniles
feed on attached algae, adults feed on kelp fragments.
Predators: octopus, sunflower star, wolf eel, and sea otter in subtidal; man,
birds (oyster catcher), otter and mink in intertidal.
GROWTH RATE
More rapid growth and larger size in beds of bull kelp (Nereocystis
leutkeanana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis integrifolia); legal size of 100 mm is
reached in 6 to 10 yr; sexually mature at about 50 mm
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FISHERY Only commercially exploited snail in B.C.; Small commercial, native and
sport fisheries; 1986 commercial catch was 52 t valued at $0.7 million.
REFERENCES
Breen, P.A. 1980. Measuring fishing intensity and annual
production in the abalone fishery of British Columbia. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat.
Sci. 947: 49 p.
Breen, P.A. 1986. Management of the British Columbia fishery for abalone (Haliotis
kamtschatkana), p. 300-312. In G.S. Jamieson and N. Bourne [ed.] North Pacific
workshop on stock assessment and management of invertebrates. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish.
Aquat. Sci. 92.
Fedorenko, A.Y., and P.E. Sprout. 1982. Abalone biology, fishery regulations,
commercial catch (1952-1980), and current state of resource in British Columbia. Can. MS
Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1658: 74 p.
Jamieson, G.S., and K. Francis. 1986. Abalone, p.13-17. In G.S. Jamieson and K.
Francis [ed.] Invertebrate and marine plant fishery resources of British Columbia. Can.
Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 91.
Mottet, M.G. 1978. A review of the fishery biology of abalone. Wash. Dep. Fish. Tech.
Rep. 37: 81 p.
Quayle, D.B. 1971. Growth, morphology and breeding in the British Columbia abalone (Haliotis
kamtschatkana Jonas). Fish. Res. Board Can. Tech. Rep. 279: 83 p.
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