A selective breeding program for commercial abalone, Haliotis asinina, used individual selection method for growth rate in the form of shell length as a criteria. The experiment started in April, 2000 by gathering juvenile abalone (1.5-2.0 cm. in shell length) produced from wild-caught broodstocks to create the base population (P0). These juveniles were grown up until they reached maturation. Selection program was designed to compare 2 different conditions of culture: the experimental-scale condition and the commercial-scale condition. The fully matured broodstock of P0 of the experimental-scale condition were selected and divided into 3 groups (ie. Fast, Control and Slow) when they were 16 months old. While those of the commercial-scale condition were divided into 2 groups (ie. Fast and Control) when they were 19 months old. Offspring (F1) produced from each group and grown in each condition were compared for their growth rates. In the experimental-scale condition, growth rate of F1 form the Fast group wassignificantly greater than that of the Control group and that of the Slow group (p<0.05). A similar pattern was also observed in the commercial-scale condition. Results obtained from both conditions indicated the possibility of the selection program to increase growth rate in the fast group. The values of indirect response to selection on growth rate of 330-day old F1 in the experimental-scale condition for positive and negative selection were 0.667 +- 0.975 and 0.186 +- 0.934 respectively. The values of heritability at 330 days for positive and negative selection were 0.388 +- 0.533 and 0.199 + - 0.598 respectively. The values of indirect response to selection and heritability of 300-day old F1 in the commercial-scale condition were unable to obtain due to the loss of individual tag. Data from this study showed that the selective breeding program using individual selection could efficiently increase production of abalone and can be incorporated into the daily operation scheme of commercial-scale farming.
