Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Illegal trade in SA abalone feeds Hong Kong New Year frenzy
SHARK fins, sea cucumbers, fish maw (bladder) – and abalone. These are the marine delicacies most prized in China.
An investigation by Traffic has revealed a thriving trade in poached South African abalone ( Haliotis midae) in markets in Hong Kong, where the mollusc is a delicacy.
Over the past 20 years, according to the wildlife trade monitoring network, the illegal harvest of the large sea snail endemic to South Africa, has exceeded legal quotas, with criminal networks poaching and smuggling wild abalone.
Traffic estimates 65% of imports was illegally sourced and trafficked compared with the 35% that was legally wildcaught or through aquaculture operations.
“The insatiable demand in East Asian countries is driving resource depletion in source countries, far from consumers bowls,” said the report’s author Wilson Lau.
Chinese criminal syndicates effectively manage the trade between South African poachers and importers in Hong Kong and control the flow and prices, says the report, which reveals how from South Africa, traffickers smuggle abalone via Mozambique and Zimbabwe and on to Hong Kong.
“Right now, in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year, thousands of people are buying abalone in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, if it’s dried abalone from South Africa, it may have been poached and trafficked, meaning consumers run the risk of unwittingly supporting organised crime.”
The report, An assessment of South African dried abalone Haliotis midae consumption and trade in Hong Kong, produced as part of the USAID-funded Wildlife TRAPS Project, shows how imports to Hong Kong have soared in recent years, despite severe restrictions on wild harvest.
While much is known about the sourcing and trafficking side of the trade chain, the fate of poached abalone once it arrives in consumer countries is not well understood, which is outlined in this report.
The rapid rise in affluence in Asia in recent decades has led to a corresponding increase in consumer appetite for dried seafood products, such as imported abalone, deemed a luxury item since the ancient Zhou dynasty.
“Demand and price for abalone have risen substantially over the past decade, which has enabled numerous people in SA to benefit financially, luring new entrants and traditionally poor coastal communities towards the trade,” says the report.
But these trends have come at a heavy price. “Wild abalone resources in South Africa have been decimated by poaching, while national management and international co-operation have been inadequate in controlling what has become a harvest that is substantially through illegal fishing.”
For the species, the outlook is grim. The relative ease of access to its habitat, slow growth and late reproduction potential makes abalone especially vulnerable to over exploitation, says Traffic.
The research shows how South Africa was the only African source country that Hong Kong imported dried abalone from between 2000 and 2015. “It was almost impossible to find abalone from other countries, while dried abalone labelled as ‘South African’ was found everywhere.”
Traders revealed how South African abalone offers a more affordable choice compared to the higher quality and priced Japanese dried abalone.
To reduce the threat of poaching and trafficking, the report offers guidance for governments, legal producers, conservation groups and donor community to take action.
These include listing and enforcing regulations for dried Haliotis midae trade under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, working with industry to support trade in legally sourced South African abalone, implementing methods for strengthening law enforcement, improving traceability and raising public awareness about the species and illegal trade.