Abalone Poaching. Report Highlights Illegal Trade

International wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC International, has released a new report on the state of the abalone resource and the problems of poaching and trade from southern Africa.

The report: Empty Shells: An assessment of abalone poaching and trade from southern Africa, is a 28-page document crafted by Nicola Okes, Markus Bürgener, Sade Moneron, and Julian Rademeyer.

It delves into the illegal abalone trade driven by sophisticated transnational criminal networks and local gangs. This results in deeply entrenched socio-economic disparities in the Western Cape, bitterly contested fishing quotas, drugs and gang violence.