Since December, there have been at least R5 multi-million abalone busts by police and government officials.

The Western Cape saw the most abalone seizures in the country between 2014 and 2019.

This is according to a recent report by TRAFFIC, an international wildlife trade monitoring organisation.

Since December, there have been at least five multi-million abalone busts by police and government officials.

The most recent one was last week where officials found abalone worth R5.5 million in Century City and arrested two people.

There have also been a number of smaller operations in between across the province and nationally.

But according to the report by TRAFFIC, “national interventions have had little impact on illegal fishing for abalone in South Africa.”

It recommends that interventions and collaborations at an international level are required to address the illegal abalone trade.

Abalone poaching has cost the country 96 million individual abalones worth R10 billion between 2000 to 2016.

Source: EWN