[CINC] Black Abalone From Shore To Sea Lecture May 13 & 14

[Clare Fritzsche]

If you attend this From Shore to Sea lecture, please include it on your 
CINC timesheet.
>
> May 2, 2008
> For Immediate Release
> Yvonne Menard, Channel Islands National Park (805) 658-5725
> Shauna Bingham, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (805) 
> 382-6149 ext.102
>
> Black Abalone on the Channel Islands Teeter Towards Extinction
>
> During the May "From Shore to/ /Sea" lecture Channel Islands National 
> Park marine biologist Dan Richards will discuss his research of the 
> black abalone---a species that was once among the most abundant 
> shellfish along the California coastline and today is struggling to 
> survive.
>
> Black abalone once dominated the rocky intertidal zone where the surf 
> meets the shoreline. In his presentation Richards will describe how 
> the once productive abalone fishery, with densities of 100 abalone per 
> meter, declined as commercial harvests dropped 95% on the northern 
> Channel Islands between 1972 and 1992. By 1993 the entire California 
> black abalone fishery was closed.
>
> Richard's research identified mass mortalities of black abalone that 
> began to occur in 1986, eventually resulting in over a 99% decline of 
> this valuable mollusk. Richards will explain how data he collected as 
> part of the park's intertidal monitoring program revealed the average 
> number of black abalone had declined to only 0.09 abalone per meter by 
> 1998 with nearly all of the survivors concentrated at San Miguel 
> Island. In 2007 the National Marine Fisheries Service was petitioned 
> to list black abalone under the federal Endangered Species Act.
>
> Richards manages the marine monitoring program for the National Park 
> Service at Channel Islands National Park. He earned degrees in marine 
> biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and 
> Humboldt State University. He served as a member of the science panel 
> for the Channel Islands marine reserve process and most recently 
> worked on the multi-agency Status Review Team for black abalone to 
> evaluate its current status.
>
> The "From Shore to Sea" lecture series is jointly sponsored by Channel 
> Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary 
> with generous support from Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. The purpose 
> of the series is to further the understanding of research on the 
> Channel Islands and surrounding waters. The lectures will occur at 
> 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, 
> 113 Harbor Way in the Santa Barbara Harbor and Wednesday, May 14, 
> 2008, at the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino 
> Visitor Center, 1901 Spinnaker Drive in the Ventura Harbor. The 
> programs are free and open to the public.
>
> This publication is available on line at: 
> www.nps.gov/chis/parknews/newsreleases.htm 
> <http://www.nps.gov/chis/parknews/newsreleases.htm>
>
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