The waters around Robben Island happen to be rich with shellfish – particularly abalone. This has made the area a draw for illegal activity in recent years.
Abalones are prized in much of Asia, and China in particular. Serving them is a culinary status symbol, seen as a mark of wealth. The delicious shellfish are expensive. Coincidentally, abalones resemble a gold ingot when dried.
South African abalones are widely viewed as one of the most tender and nutritious varieties, making them among the most expensive (second only to certain varieties from Japan). In dried form, abalone flesh is more than $1,000 per kilogram (2.2 pounds). Fresh farmed abalones sell for $130 per kilogram in many restaurants in China.
Much of the abalone that is poached in South Africa is sold to transnational crime syndicates that then ship the shellfish to China – often in exchange for Quaaludes and chemicals used to make crystal meth. Quaaludes, or mandrax as they are called locally, are used more widely in South Africa than anywhere else in the world. The poachers usually receive cash payment, but many have been known to blow it on the “party lifestyle.”
Source: Roads and Kingdoms
In a country where over half the population live below the national poverty line (estimated at $76 per month), the high price of abalones present a huge draw for poachers. The price continues to fluctuate, but still remains high.
While abalones are found along much of South Africa’s coastline, they are heavily restricted in commercial fishing due to overfishing and poaching over the last 25 years. The species is on the verge of commercial extinction, meaning their depletion has reached the point where fisherman cannot legally catch enough of them to earn profit. Recreational fishing for abalones has been outlawed for over 10 years in the country.
After the tourists are gone for the day, poachers head out to Robben Island in inflatable boats known as rubber ducks. Once near the coastline, they dive illegally in the shallows for abalones and other shellfish.
After a tip-off, officers from a special police task force and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries seized a poacher’s vessel and discovered 2,858 abalones – worth approximately $68,400. The poachers on board abandoned their boat after spotting the law enforcement officials and were never caught.
Abalones take seven years on average to reach sexual maturity, and often another one or two years to reach the minimum size to be caught legally. These protections are in place to allow the shellfish time to reproduce and replenish the population. If left in the wild, abalones can live 30 years or more.
Poachers notoriously ignore legal minimum sizes for abalone, seizing the shellfish long before they have reached the age and maturity to reproduce. The fisheries department in South Africa estimates that two thirds of the abalones it confiscates are younger and smaller than the legal minimum.
Over 30,000 tons — about 75 million individual shellfish — have been harvested illegally in South Africa since 2001. These statistics come from the Southern Africa branch of TRAFFIC, a nonprofit monitor for illicit wildlife trades, and only date back to 2001 due to the inaccessibility of information from Hong Kong until that time.
Just 3,000 tons of legally harvested abalone have been reported in South Africa since 2001, making up only 10 percent of the total volume taken. As of 2016, the total allowable catch is just 96 tons, far less than the 640-ton allowance back in 1988 before the population became so severely depleted.
