Cape Town - South Africa is the only country where the wild harvesting of abalone is illegal and lately crimes relating to it have been increasing.
Abalone are found in kelp forests and rocky reefs and play an important part in the marine ecosystem by helping to stabilise the community structure of these marine habitats.
But wild abalone harvesting without a permit is prohibited by South Africa.
It has extremely rich, flavourful, and highly valued meat that is considered a culinary delicacy and it is often offered live in the shell, frozen, or canned, and is among the world's most expensive seafood.
According to Mongabay, South African abalone (Haliotis midae) is an endemic species that only occurs in South Africa. It is a high value product, easy to access and found along an extensive area of the South African coastline.
A highly organised supply chain has led to the near-depletion of the species in South Africa, the corruption of state institutions, and fuelled gang violence in impoverished communities.
There have been suggestions that legalising this overexploitation may be the only way to save the species from going extinct and curb the violent crime surrounding the trade.
Simone Haysom, the other co-author of the report and senior analyst with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), told Mongabay, that one problem that causes so many crimes is that South Africa is the only country where the wild harvesting of abalone is illegal.
“Neighbouring countries often don’t have the legal basis, let alone the kind of political direction to search for abalone or prosecute anyone under laws relating to it,” Haysom said.
Haysom adds that the species enjoyed greater international protection when it was listed under the global convention on the wildlife trade, which imposes certain obligations on signatory countries.
“But in 2010, South Africa asked for it to be delisted due to administrative problems regarding the timely issuing of export permits for abalone in all its forms (fresh, frozen, canned, and dried).
“The permit system was also opposed by the country’s legal abalone fishers, who threatened to sue the government.
“As things stand, abalone can be imported without limitations by any registered trading company in the world,” Haysom said.
This comes after a duo pleaded guilty for possession of abalone, corruption and additional charges of illegal immigration in the Kroonstad Regional Court.
Sabriye Huseike (28) and Osman Abdulkarim Jama (45) appeared before the Kroonstad Regional Court on Friday.
Police spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said during a series of court appearances, the court sentenced Huseike to a fine of twenty thousand on a count of possession of abalone or five years imprisonment. On the count of corruption he was fined R10 000 or five years imprisonment.
“He was also sentenced to three month imprisonment for illegal immigration wholly suspended for five years. Jama was sentenced to a fine of twenty thousand on a count of possession of abalone or five years imprisonment,” Singo added.
Meanwhile in the Western Cape four men from Milnerton pleaded guilty and were sentenced following their arrest for the possession of abalone valued at more than R4.8 million.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the group were fined R300 000 or 36 months imprisonment of which R150 000 or 18 months was suspended for five years on condition that they are not going to be convicted of the same offences.
The accused were further sentenced to 12 months imprisonment which is wholly suspended for a period of 5 years on condition that they are not convicted of a contravention of the Immigration Act.
Hani added that, effectively, all four accused will serve 18 months direct imprisonment should they fail to pay a fine of R150 000 each.
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