tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/abalone-poaching-52371/articlesAbalone poaching – The Conversation2021-12-15T14:34:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733412021-12-15T14:34:01Z2021-12-15T14:34:01ZSouth African movie dives into the complexity of poaching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436318/original/file-20211208-19-10c7yi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Still from the film Sons of the Sea.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Indigenous Film Distribution</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does salvation look like? When a person lacks options, this may not be a straightforward judgement to make. Is salvation an unearned windfall, or doing what’s legal?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.news24.com/arts/film/durban-international-film-festival-announces-2020-winners-and-three-new-categories-20210802">award-winning</a> South African film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12254438/">Sons of the Sea</a> pivots on questions like these. It explores the moral universe of forced choices through the narrative of Mikhail and Gabriel, two brothers from Kalk Bay, a fishing village near Cape Town. Mikhail is the older brother and a small-time <a href="https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/south-african-abalone/">abalone</a> poacher. Gabriel is set up as his opposite: he completed school, plans to study further, has a good job at a local hotel and is in a relationship with a responsible young woman. Mikhail lives life according to somewhat looser morals – associated here with active criminality.</p>
<p>When a foreigner dies in the hotel where he works, Gabriel finds a stash of dried and packaged abalone, an amount that represents a fortune if it can be sold successfully. The brothers steal the valuable marine snails, setting off the well-known crime movie spiral into uncontrolled events. </p>
<p>As a counterbalance to the brothers, we encounter Peterson, an official with the local government department that deals with marine resource extraction. We are given clues about Peterson to indicate a man in a desperate situation – a widower with a young son and problematic mother-in-law, financial troubles and an inherited ethos of living off the land. Without giving away the story, suffice it to say that the lucre of the abalone lures all three to a dramatic resolution.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Sons of the Sea trailer.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Abalone, or <em>perlemoen</em> (<em>Haliotis midae</em>), is a shellfish that was once abundant along South Africa’s Western Cape coast. Illegal extraction rose steeply in the 1990s, for a number of reasons. It is highly sought after as a delicacy and status symbol. This made it valuable to the established black marketeers who saw the newly democratised South Africa as an expansion opportunity. </p>
<p>A number of coastal communities were left disappointed by the fishing rights processes that they had been relying on to reverse a century and more of colonial and apartheid exclusion from the formal fishing sector. When it became clear to these communities that they would not gain access to fishing resources, many took to “protest fishing”. This opened the gap for more intentionally criminal elements. </p>
<p>While it has its roots in the idea that the sea belongs to the people of the Cape, the reality is that poaching is devastating these communities and the ecology on which they wish to base their livelihoods. </p>
<h2>The complex poaching world</h2>
<p>Sons of the Sea is beautifully filmed, with close-ups and lingering shots of the Atlantic, the <a href="https://seachangeproject.com/great-african-seaforest/">Great African Seaforest</a> and the <a href="http://pza.sanbi.org/vegetation/fynbos-biome">fynbos</a>-covered hills at the southern tip of Africa. The land and sea help determine what actions the characters take. Switching between them echoes the idea of salvation as ambiguous, preventing clear distinctions between who is good and who is bad. </p>
<p>When I talk to people about my <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marieke-Norton/amp#research">research</a> into marine resource law enforcement in the Western Cape, I often encounter two perspectives: a conviction that all illegal fishers are criminal poacher-gangsters; or that poaching is a noble response to the enduring legacy of colonial and apartheid exclusions of people of colour from the ocean space and resources. The reality is usually far less clear cut. </p>
<p>What <a href="https://theconversation.com/first-steps-to-tackling-south-africas-abalone-poaching-106957">I argue</a> – in line with other work on different kinds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fight-against-poaching-must-shift-to-empowering-communities-83828">illegal resource extraction</a> – is that the decision to poach is not a decision, but a destination on a journey that is often fraught with loss and exclusion. Many divers have died in rough seas or when trying to <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/poacher-killed-high-speed-boat-chase/">evade law enforcement</a>. Unless you are the kingpin or the merchant, poaching is a dangerous choice which could see you dead, in jail or embroiled in <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/105.PDF">gangsterism</a>. </p>
<p>My research has repeatedly shown me that South Africa’s coastal communities are under-resourced to the point of precarity. The inter-generational cycle of poverty leaves one with few choices. The <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-11-21-south-african-fishing-policy-bait-is-not-landing-a-catch/">dithering</a> by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment on implementing policy for small fisheries means that poaching is often the only option. It is not simply a choice between legality and criminality, it is often between starving or not.</p>
<p>To stop poaching, communities must be nurtured – in some cases regenerated – to provide young men like Mikhail with options. In the film, he is not simply criminal – he is trapped by the legacy of exclusion that reserves the sea for others. As a young man of colour, who did not finish school, he is in a bracket that currently suffers from <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/542840/here-are-your-chances-of-employment-in-south-africa-based-on-your-level-of-education/">40.2% unemployment</a>. He has no hope of getting a legal fishing licence, or a regular job with prospects. So why would he turn away from the one thing that provides without taking? </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men sit in a room and talk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436320/original/file-20211208-142574-llzcro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Roberto Kyle and Brendon Daniels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Indigenous Film Distribution</span></span>
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<p>We see this complexity of intention and motivation not only in the two brothers, but also in the character of Peterson. Woven throughout the backstories of these characters is loss of loved ones, lack of resources and the desperation to get out of the economic hardships that prevent their futures from being realised. </p>
<h2>Choices and motivations</h2>
<p>Sons of the Sea presents the shifting landscape that compels the characters to revisit their choices and motivations as events unfold. What is the right choice changes, and is never the same for two characters at once. Throughout the first part of the film, we see Gabriel practising a speech under his breath, checking his notes as he prepares for this future in which he is centre stage, being listened to. He drops it, and Peterson finds it at the scene of the crime. As he reads it, so do we as the audience: </p>
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<p>All world processes are made up of two forces.</p>
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<p>It is clearly intended as the central idea of the film. This is vital, as the fight against poaching is a misnomer. The only constructive, longterm counter to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-illegal-fishing-harms-nigeria-and-what-to-do-about-it-160553">illegal fishing</a> and the abalone black market is a world in which young people are not preoccupied with salvation, with saving themselves, but one in which they do not need saving.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173341/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marieke Norton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Woven throughout the backstories of these characters is the loss of loved ones, lack of resources and the desperation to get out of economic hardship.Marieke Norton, Lecturer, Course Convenor and Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1080432018-12-06T18:54:43Z2018-12-06T18:54:43ZPerth’s brief abalone season is a time of delicacies and danger<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249149/original/file-20181206-186076-1lui5sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/11196802@N03/2250408566/">~boonie/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Starting on December 8, <a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/recreational_fishing/licences/rec_licence_abalone.pdf">recreational abalone fishing</a> will be allowed in Perth. Fishing will be limited to one hour on four Saturday mornings between December and February. The maximum catch is still 15 per person per day. A complete ban on abalone fishing between Geraldton and the Northern Territory border will remain in place.</p>
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<p>This brief, intense season is a social and dining highlight of the year for many Australians – particularly Chinese migrants. It’s also a risky business, with dangers to both people and the reefs the abalone grow on. </p>
<p>As part of our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/1/1/9">research</a>, my colleague Li Chen and I interviewed abalone fishers (and even took part ourselves). We found that more needs to be done to communicate how to fish for abalone safely and sustainably, especially on Chinese social media. </p>
<h2>Abalone is popular but vulnerable</h2>
<p>Among Chinese people, abalone represents wealth and confers social status. In some Hong Kong restaurants, dried abalone can sell for as much as A$5,000 per 500 grams.</p>
<p>But abalone is a <a href="https://www.abalonewa.com.au/about-abalone-and-the-commercial-industry.html">fragile marine resource</a>. Western Australia is one of few places in the world with relatively healthy wild stocks.</p>
<p>Among the 11 species found in the state, only brownlip, greenlip and Roe’s abalone grow large enough to be collected.</p>
<p>In recent years, marine heatwaves and <a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/About-Us/Media-releases/Pages/_archive/405-abalone-more-than-the-daily-bag-limit.aspx">unlawful harvesting</a> have begun to deplete numbers. Cases of <a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/About-Us/News/Pages/Trafficking-and-other-abalone-offences-attract-heavy-fine.aspx">trafficking</a> and overharvesting have been reported.</p>
<p>According to a WA Department of Fisheries <a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/research_reports/frr241.pdf">report</a>, around 3 tonnes of greenlip is collected illegally each year on the state’s south coast alone.</p>
<p>Despite mounting pressures, the slow-growing mollusc is increasingly sought as a delicacy.</p>
<p>More than <a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/recreational_fishing/licences/rec_licence_abalone.pdf">17,000 recreational licences</a> are issued annually in WA. Yet the safety risks, ecological impacts and cultural factors at work each season are not well understood.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-lasting-longer-and-doing-more-damage-95637">Marine heatwaves are getting hotter, lasting longer and doing more damage</a>
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<h2>What are the risks?</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, a man <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/a-man-has-died-in-a-suspected-drowning-while-abalone-fishing-in-ocean-reef/news-story/ee356739c121d1cdfc6b5ee397569794">drowned</a> while collecting abalone at Ocean Reef Marina in Perth. Five recreational fishers have died since 2012.</p>
<p>During 2017–18 patrols, <a href="https://www.mybeach.com.au/">Surf Life Saving WA</a> volunteers intervened to prevent 206 potential accidents and performed five rescues at abalone fishing sites around Perth.</p>
<p>In preparation for the upcoming season, SLSWA has developed <a href="https://www.mybeach.com.au/safety-rescue-services/coastal-recreation/abalone/">a new campaign</a> including online images of safety equipment and translations of safety brochures into Chinese.</p>
<p>Chrissie Skehan, health promotion and research coordinator for SLSWA, explains that “a key target demographic for our campaign has been internationals, particularly the Chinese population”.</p>
<p>Known as a “<a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/research_reports/frr241.pdf">dive fishery</a>,” the commercial abalone industry in WA operates mainly in shallow waters off the south coast. In contrast, recreational fishing around Perth requires <a href="http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Species/Abalone/Pages/Abalone-Recreational-Fishing.aspx">wading and snorkelling</a>.</p>
<p>Fishers must come prepared with reef shoes, prying tools, measuring gauges, and licence cards. Conditions can turn dangerous rapidly. What’s more, many new enthusiasts are not skilled swimmers.</p>
<p>Regulations attempt to reduce the impacts of the intense four-hour season on ecosystems that are already <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/pub?pid=csiro:EP182603">vulnerable to climate change</a>. Wear on reefs would be severe if not tightly managed.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/1/1/9">survey</a>, which spanned two Perth abalone seasons, we interviewed Chinese migrants and took part in the activities so as to get a feel for the experience.</p>
<p>Our research suggests that more education is needed to reduce environmental impacts and personal risks. Increasing cross-cultural understanding through the abalone harvest is important.</p>
<h2>What are the benefits?</h2>
<p>For the people we interviewed, the benefits outweigh the risks. Abalone fishing contributes to personal well-being and social networks.</p>
<p>When Billy Han first encountered wild abalone more than 13 years ago, he could not believe the sea treasure was real. “I thought it was impossible to find abalone at the roadside. It is so expensive in China.”</p>
<p>Duan Xin, an experienced fisher, took only ten minutes to reach the daily bag limit of 15 abalone. He spent the rest of the hour helping others learn how to fish while staying safe. The experience each year strengthens Duan’s standing as a mentor.</p>
<p>The abalone season builds a sense of community among Chinese migrants. But participation can also enhance awareness of the environment.</p>
<p>For Tommy Zhan, fishing was a chance to learn more about the coastal habitat. “I know what abalone looks like and tastes like, but I do not know how to harvest it or about the places where it lives.”</p>
<p>Chinese people share fishing stories and swap recipes in person and on social media. These exchanges allow them to adapt ancient traditions to the local environment.</p>
<h2>The future of the abalone season</h2>
<p>We recommend the inclusion of stronger marine conservation messages in public outreach and safety campaigns.</p>
<p>Undersized abalone can die if returned to the sea upside down. Shelling on the beach can attract sharks and other marine predators.</p>
<p>Conservation and safety groups could work with community leaders such as Duan Xin to spread information via Chinese social media networks rather than English-only channels.</p>
<p>Environmental education will be essential to the long-term sustainability of the abalone harvest.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-discovered-20-new-fish-in-northern-australia-now-we-need-to-protect-them-52905">We discovered 20 new fish in northern Australia – now we need to protect them</a>
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<p>Not merely a management issue, the upcoming season is an opportunity for cultural dialogue in a city that is growing more ethnically diverse all the time.</p>
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<p><em>This article was coauthored by Li Chen, drawing on research conducted for her PhD at Edith Cowan University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108043/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Charles Ryan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Beginning on Saturday, West Australia’s short, intense abalone season will be open for a total of four hours.John Charles Ryan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1069572018-11-21T14:35:30Z2018-11-21T14:35:30ZFirst steps to tackling South Africa’s abalone poaching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245746/original/file-20181115-194491-g3hd6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gansbaai, a popular town in the Western Cape, South Africa, is battling illegal poaching. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa faces the possible <a href="http://wwfsassi.co.za/">collapse</a> of several inshore fisheries, particularly certain species of linefish, abalone and West Coast Rock Lobster. If nothing is done, not only will the ecology be poorer and change in many unexpected ways, but sea-derived livelihoods will collapse. The social structures that have maintained communities and relationships with the sea will follow. </p>
<p>In South Africa abalone is threatened because of a number of failures. These include a lack of opportunities combined with poverty in small towns along the country’s coast, as well as inefficiencies in fishery management. </p>
<p>Abalone is a mollusc of the genus Haliotis. It’s found in most parts of the world except one or two continental coasts and the polar regions. Along South Africa’s coast, baby abalone – called spat – shelter among the sea urchins that cohabit with the shellfish on our rocky shores. The muscular and mucous-rich meat of the sea snail is delicious. It’s been eaten along the South African coast for millennia. </p>
<p>The inside of an abalone shell – the opposite of its rough and camouflaged exterior – is covered in smooth nacre that runs a spectrum of colours from white to blue to purple. It’s this hidden beauty that earned it its Afrikaans name from the Dutch, <em>perlemoen</em> or “mother of pearl”. </p>
<p>The most sought-after species in South Africa is Haliotis Midae. It’s this species that’s highly prized in Asia, <a href="https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/8469/south-africas-illicit-abalone.pdf">particularly China</a>, and enjoys the same status as luxury foods such as the infamous shark-fin and bird’s nest soups. </p>
<p>Since the 1990’s, international trafficking in abalone has skyrocketed. Sophisticated syndicates move it in amounts that usually equal several million rands’ worth. This booming illegal trade has affected the country’s coastal socio-ecologies in two particularly devastating ways. One, the species is highly over-exploited; two, the lucrative nature of these poaching networks has roped in local and international criminal networks. </p>
<p>Currently, the South African government and these poaching networks are locked in a downward spiral of violence that’s seen the increased militarisation of both poaching and law enforcement activities. </p>
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<p>I saw this first hand in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X14002401">my research</a> along the Indian Ocean coastline where I witnessed the effect of two decades of organised poaching on small coastal communities.</p>
<h2>What’s driving the illegal demand</h2>
<p>Since 1994 the government has attempted to transform the fishing industry to make it more inclusive. However, it’s failed to give small-scale fishers the number and size of fishing rights they were expecting, or that they needed. The disappointment this caused led to an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X0500045X">explosion</a> of what was termed “protest fishing”, where large groups of disgruntled fishers would fish illegally, often out in the open and in front of the public and media to make their case for the recognition of their livelihoods. </p>
<p>Additionally, the end of apartheid meant that South Africa’s borders were opened up. This had an impact on both legal and illegal activities. </p>
<p>The protest fishers needed a market for their catch, which was by definition illegal. This environment created the perfect scenario for foreign interests to step in. One of the biggest markets was China. It quickly became apparent that what this market wanted most –- and was willing to pay highly for –- was abalone. </p>
<p>The lucrative nature of this new industry soon attracted the attention of syndicates in South Africa and abroad. Many protest fishers were co-opted into highly profitable networks of poachers that were intimately tied to established <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/105.PDF">gangs</a>. </p>
<p>Breaking the cycle of illegal activity is going to be tough, but there are things that the government can do. </p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>The government needs to curtail the socio-economic conditions that make poaching not only the most lucrative, but often the only option, for employment in impoverished fishing villages. </p>
<p>For example, hotspots such as Gansbaai in the Overberg and Hangberg in Cape Town are characterised by a lack of housing, employment, opportunity and skills-based education. By focusing both on communities’ well being and on good governance, many of the factors that threaten the natural resource sectors would be ameliorated. </p>
<p>Here are additional steps the government must take: </p>
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<li><p>Root out the corruption at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The department’s leadership has been <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/fisheries-department-rotting-from-the-top-20181113">compromised</a> for decades. It’s no wonder that some fishers question the authority of such inefficient management. </p></li>
<li><p>Forensic task teams must be established and authorised to follow the flows of capital into and out of coastal communities, as well as the Marine Living Resources Fund. Community, here, refers to both fishers and Fisheries Branch personnel. </p></li>
<li><p>Bring back the Green Courts. These special courts were regionally based and dealt only with environmental crime. Both the prosecutors and judges had specialised knowledge and the court didn’t need to prioritise between environmental crime and other serious crime such as murder, rape or robbery. When operating, the Green Courts had an <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/future-of-sas-green-court-in-the-balance-274307">over 80% success rate</a> at convicting. Currently, environmental crimes are often relegated to the bottom of the schedule because they’re not seen as urgent. This has resulted in endless delays in hearing cases of poaching, and under-prosecution of environmental crime. </p></li>
<li><p>The <a href="https://www.nda.agric.za/docs/policy/policysmallscalefishe.pdf">small-scale fisheries policy</a> needs to be realistically assessed for its capacity to uplift communities who’ve been waiting in increasingly desperate anticipation for its implementation since <a href="http://www.plaas.org.za/news/state-small-scale-fisheries-south-africa">2007</a>. It cannot be the only option for long-term upliftment along our coasts. </p></li>
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<p>Abalone are not charismatic creatures. They’ll never inspire the same national outrage or proliferation of bumper stickers as the rhino. Yet, their value is no less. Fixing the myriad of problems that have spawned this illegal industry won’t be easy. However, by assuming that the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is capable of addressing the problem on its own, we’re condemning all such efforts to failure. With political will, and coordinated effort between government departments, almost everything is possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marieke Norton has previously received funding from the South African National Research Foundation through the Research Chair in Marine Ecology and Fisheries, as well as the SeaChange Fund, also NRF. </span></em></p>Breaking the cycle of illegal abalone poaching in South Africa is going to be tough, but not impossible.Marieke Norton, Lecturer, Course Convenor and PostDoctoral Researcher, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/884862018-04-15T08:45:00Z2018-04-15T08:45:00ZAbalone poaching: lifting the lid on why, how and who<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214475/original/file-20180412-587-tp8oc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The value of abalone increased as it moves from traffickers and later to overseas wholesalers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wildlife poaching has long been a subject of interest in academia. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13683500.2017.1343807">Research</a> by biologists, zoologists and environmental scientists mostly focused on the impact of these crimes on wildlife populations and their habitat. More recently, criminologists interested in different types of environmental crimes, have started studying poaching. </p>
<p>This is because of the realisation that poaching affects more than wildlife: it has implications for developing nations’ economies and often involves transnational criminal enterprises.</p>
<p>Theories developed to understand street criminals’ behaviour are now being applied to green criminology. The hope is that this will help identify the causes of wildlife crimes, provide offender profiles and facilitate practical solutions. One of the focus areas is abalone poaching. It’s an in-demand and expensive delicacy, and wild and farmed abalone fisheries are common in the Western Cape. </p>
<p>It is legal to harvest wild abalone (with permits and adherence to number limits) but poaching in the wild fisheries has steadily increased <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/02/15/wwf-95-of-abalone-stocks-from-sa-being-fished-illegally">since the mid-1990s</a>. This is partly because of the social, political and economic changes in South Africa after apartheid. A weak economy, high unemployment, and ineffective policing have contributed to the rise in abalone poaching. So too has <a href="http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/10/8/organized-crime-drugs-and-poverty-are-behind-south-africas-a.html">the presence</a> of Asian criminal enterprises in the region and increasing market demand for abalone from Asia.</p>
<p>In 2013 I conducted an <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12117-016-9265-4">exploratory analysis</a> of abalone poaching in a South African national park to see whether the “routine activities theory” might be useful in tackling the problem. This theory, which falls under the concept of situational crime prevention, contends that crime happens when three elements converge: a motivated offender, a suitable target and a lack of security or motivational guardianship. </p>
<p>Motivated offenders are the opportunistic criminals often present in socially disorganised communities. Suitable targets are accessible, valuable and desirable. Guardianship includes law enforcement and physical barriers. According to the theory, crime rates vary based on changes to these elements.</p>
<h2>Applying the theory in a national park</h2>
<p>The concept of situational crime prevention is useful in wildlife crime research. It draws on other theoretical approaches like <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02732170290062676">opportunity theory</a>. Opportunity theory is concerned with the availability of opportunities to commit crime. It also contends that offenders make rational choices or decisions selecting targets with little risk and high reward.</p>
<p>Among the national parks I visited was <a href="https://www.sanparks.org/parks/table_mountain/">Table Mountain</a> in the Western Cape. It’s a well established and frequently visited park in the densely populated Cape Town area. It has a full staff of rangers including an investigative unit, modern infrastructure to facilitate tourism and controlled access from land. There’s a marine protected area offshore that is home to abalone.</p>
<p>The rangers didn’t deter motivated offenders from targeting the park. Some poachers were subsistence hunters and sport divers who only took a few. Others were small-scale commercial poachers who legally entered the park by car and operated from the coastline, taking dozens of the molluscs at a time. The area was also targeted by large commercial operations that entered the marine protected areas in boats and dispatched scuba divers to poach hundreds of abalone. </p>
<p>Those are the offenders. Then there’s the “suitable target”: abalone itself. In 2013 poachers sold abalone for between USD$10 to <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-abalone-poaching-south-africa/">sometimes USD$40 per kilogram</a>. The value increased as it moved to traffickers and later to overseas wholesalers, where it reached a <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-abalone-poaching-south-africa/">few hundred dollars per kilogram</a>. Some final retail prices have even exceeded USD$3000 per kilogram in <a href="https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/03/30/easy-pickings-for-abalone-smugglers/">Hong Kong’s markets</a></p>
<h2>Security makes the difference</h2>
<p>The key preliminary finding from the research was how variations in proper guardianship or security affected poaching. A park’s fencing had little influence on offender behaviour since land based poachers could legally enter by pretending to be tourists. </p>
<p>The major factor was the size and capability of ranger units. They need to continuously watch visitors and boats near the abalone habitat. Poachers quickly exploited the lack of security in these areas. I found no evidence of collusion between rangers and poachers.</p>
<p>So what are the possible solutions? These may include more remote surveillance from fixed cameras in parking lots and along the coastline, and by drones over the water. Funding for these improvements could come from charging increased fees for park admission or fishing licenses. Adding more rangers to monitor park visitors for suspicious activity along with further enhancing the park’s dedicated anti-poaching officers would be effective and is necessary. </p>
<p>Table Mountain had a motivated and capable investigative unit that was specially training in anti-poaching, including offshore operations, and able to deal with armed offenders should the need arise.</p>
<p>Anti-poaching efforts also need a sufficient number of well maintained patrol boats that allow armed rangers to physically check the activities of suspicious boats and sport divers in the protected areas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Warchol does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Abalone poaching in Cape Town succeeds because there is a motivated offender, a suitable target and a lack of security.Greg Warchol, Professor Criminal Justice Department, Northern Michigan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.