Conservation

Bringing White Abalone Back From The Brink

Dr. Kristin Aquilino and Professor Gary Cherr at UC Davis hope hope to save the species by reintroducing their captive-bred population back into the wild. While once thriving in kelp forests in Southern California and Mexico, the white abalone are now being threatening by overfishing and are close to extinction. By breeding them in captivity, there is hope that there may be a chance for the populations to recover. 

The Extraordinary Effort to Save the White Abalone

Bodega Marine Laboratory team member Kristin Aquilino has been featured on KQED Science regarding her efforts to study and protect white abalone. Aquilino reflects on her time at BML researching abalone and the path to species revival.

Read the KQED Science article here. 

spring chinook

Salmonid Conservation

BML has had a long history of salmonid research, with a major project on enhancing the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon in the 1990s, followed by research on fish health in local endangered Coho salmon in the 2000s. The unique salmonid facility at UCD has large tanks with seawater and freshwater sources for holding broodstock under environmental conditions, a hatchery, and a grow-out facility with fish pathogen capabilities.

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