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The abalone fishery in Mexico, mainly composed of green Haliotis fulgens and pink H. corrugata abalone, showed a significant decline in the 80’s and since then has maintained a production of 500-700 MT. In spite of several management measures applied to its recovery, the fishery is catalogued as “deteriorated” and “uncontrolled,” which could lead to the proposition of new approaches for abalone population enhancement such as marine reserves. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are emerging as a management tool to enhance the conservation of marine resources, both in terms of species abundance and genetic diversity. The con­nectivity, that is the extent to which populations along a species’ range are linked by exchange of individuals, is a key element to comprehend and to evaluate the effectiveness of MPAs within and outside the boundaries of the protected area. In abalone species, the normal connectivity between populations is attained through planktonic larval dispersal. However, this is usually difficult to measure due to the small size, high mortality, and large volumes in which the larvae are distributed. Our objective was to assess pink abalone H. corrugata larval connectivity and retention by microsatellite DNA as genetic markers. Connectivity between neighbor locations (“El Riíto” bed at Bahia Asunción and La Bocana) was inferred on a short geographical and tempo­ral interval through an indirect approach based on the fixation index FST between adults and juveniles. Larval retention at El Riíto was estimated within an abalone bed by a direct approach using individual microsatellite DNA profiles from adults and juveniles. Based on the FST results and on genetic signatures we suggest high­er genetic connectivity between El Riíto and La Bocana (FST < -0.003; P > 0.724) than self-recruitment over few generations. However, a significant linkage disequilibrium observed at El Riito supports the hypothesis of genetically differentiated cohorts, probably due to local replenishment. Connectivity among sites as well as self-recruitment, play very important roles in the population dynamics of pink abalone. Strong connectivity between neighbor populations suggests the possibility of a depleted population’s restoration through larval dispersal. Consequently, fishery management should not only take into account the local reduction’s effect of populations, but also consider the consequences over neighbor populations.

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