South African abalone nearly wiped out by poachers, report

Record ID: 1356852

  • Title: South African abalone nearly wiped out by poachers, report
  • Date: 18th September 2018
  • Summary: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ABALONE AQUARIUM VARIOUS OF WORKER SORTING ABALONE VARIOUS OF BABY ABALONE MORE OF ABALONE VARIOUS OF WORKER SORTING ABALONE
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2018 21:11
  • Keywords: Abalone mollusc extinction poaching poachers crime
  • Location: JOHANNESBURG AND CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA/ HONG KONG, CHINA
  • City: JOHANNESBURG AND CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA/ HONG KONG, CHINA
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Reuters ID: LVA0038Y5M9UF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:South African police storm a house in Johannesburg where suspected abalone poachers are believed to be holed up.
    A toxic mix of poverty and organised crime has unleashed a poaching wave threatening the large sea snail coveted as a delicacy and that is critical to the ecological health of coastal waters, a report released on Tuesday (September 18) said.
    The report, by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, found that the region's Abalone population is on the verge of collapse, with an estimated 96 million illegally harvested between 2000 and 2016 to feed Asian markets.
    The epicentre is the once-abalone rich Atlantic waters off South Africa's Western Cape province, where chronic poverty and joblessness drive mostly young men to risk shark attack and take the dive in search of the gourmet mollusc.
    Only around a third of abalone taken from southern African waters that reaches restaurant tables is legal, the report said.
    "For the last five or more years the amount of abalone that's come out the water illegally is more than 95 percent, that means only about 5 percent or less of what is fished has been legally fished the rest has been poached. Over the last twenty years there has been on average one seizure or arrest or similar incident related to abalone every single day of the year, so imagine that for twenty years almost daily there is abalone poaching related arrest and we are only catching a small proportion of the people involved in the abalone that's related to those poaching incidents," said Markus Bürgener, the senior programme officer, at TRAFFIC.
    Government officials have said before that the situation is so desperate they may have to impose a blanket ban on all abalone fishing - both recreational and commercial - to stave off looming extinction.
    Abalone plays an important ecological role - according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the species helps to keep coastal waters clean by feeding on sea weed and floating weeds.
    They are found in abundance in cold waters off New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the west coast of the United States, but abalone from South Africa are considered to be among the best.
    There are several species of abalone but the one commercially harvested in southern Africa is Haliotis Midae, which is endemic to the region.
    Only a limited number of fisheries are licensed to harvest a highly circumscribed amount of abalone in South Africa, and the penalties for breaking the law are harsh, but this has not deterred poachers.
    "Driven by sophisticated transnational criminal networks and local gangs, the illegal abalone trade has been fuelled by deeply entrenched socio-economic disparities in the Western Cape, bitterly contested fishing quotas, drugs, and gang violence," the report says.
    In 2016 alone, the value of the illegal abalone trade was estimated at $57 million.
    "It would seem that the risk reward ratio still far in favour of the poachers and the traders because it is clearly, many many people involved. It's a well-organized, well resourced, business that generates a significant amount of revenue," said Bürgener.
    Dubbed "white gold" after its pearly flesh, about 90 percent of the region's abalone also known as "perlemoen" is destined for upscale restaurants in Hong Kong.
    "For Chinese people, when we celebrate weddings and major events, why will we choose to serve abalone? It is because putting it on the table celebrates the prestige of the occasion. Normally, there will be different things including shark fin. But these days, people are more environmentally conscious - and they may choose bird's nest instead. And if there is abalone, the event will be even more prestigious. The host will also gain more face," said Cheng Kam Fu a Chef at a Hong Kong restaurant.
    "Abalone is a high value sea food commodity, it’s a status symbol so buyers in Hong Kong, China and other key markets are willing to pay really high prices for abalone it’s an indicator of their status. You can compare it for instance to very expensive champagne or caviar. It’s not so much about the taste of the product, it's a status symbol you showing people you've money that you can afford to buy this product," said Bürgener.
    TRAFFIC is calling for stricter trade rules on South African abalone and also wants the mollusc listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, to protect abalone and ensure their survival.
    There are almost no regulations outside of South Africa to control the trade.
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