South Africa has taken step to put a ban on the commercial fishing of wild abalone, a large marine slug, from February 1. Conservationists fear that this could increase poaching and in this way it could drive the species further towards extinction. But South African minister of environmental affairs and tourism, Martinis van Chalky said that the steps were absolutely necessary.
According to the minister the present situation demands a total ban on commercial harvesting of wild abalone as the stock has declined to such an extent that the resource is threatened with extinction. The demand of abalone in Southeast Asia is so high that it encourages the poachers to go on hunting.
However, the government has taken several measures to minimize the harvesting of wild abalone but the poaching was continued as it is very lucrative. In 2007 South Africa has listed the animal in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Now the shipment of South African abalone for international market needs to have CITES licence. And this could be possible only to legal harvesters.
To curtail illegal abalone harvesting South Africa started joint patrolling operations, with the South African Police Service (SAPS), opined the Department of Environmental Affairs and the South African National Defence Force. As per the record of CITES illegal poaching of abalone has increased tenfold between 1996 and 2006.
Maria Hauck, a senior researcher at the University of Cape Town’s Environmental Evaluation Unit, said, “The government has alienated legal harvesters when it should have partnered with them in managing the resource and this could lead to more poaching.” Markus Bürgener of the international wildlife trade-monitoring network TRAFFIC echoed the views of Hauck. The South African government has also planned to invest some 15 million dollars to protect abalone as abalone farming is very expensive.
