Pacific Abalone Farming in China: Recent Innovations and Challenges

Recently, cultivation of the Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai (Ino, 1953) in China has developed rapidly, boosted by innovations in low-cost seed production and highly efficient sea-based culture systems. Seed production of Pacific abalone differs between northern and southern China and is dependent on sufficient quantities of broodstock, excess quantities of freshly cultured diatoms during the nursery phase, and tank hygiene and newly designed attachment methodology during the intermediate culture phase. Innovations in grow-out systems for Pacific abalone, such as stock enhancement in northern regions and commercial application of cage culture methods in southern regions, have further contributed to the success of Pacific abalone farming in China. There are still challenges in Pacific abalone-farming industry in China. First, mass mortality during the nursery and postlarval culture stages hinders seed production in northern and southern regions. Second, extreme weather events, including cold waters in northern regions and typhoons and red tides in southern regions, have occurred more frequently during recent years, and these events often cause high mortality of adult abalone during the grow-out phase. Finally, Pacific abalone H. discus hannai is an introduced species from northern regions, and, therefore, summer mortality remains a major problem in most bays of southern China; moreover, the survival rate from seed to market size varies widely among growing areas. The future direction in development of Pacific abalone farming in China will be also discussed.