The difficulties in policing and combatting of a maritime crime: the case of Abalone poaching along South Africa's coastline

摘要

The poaching or the illegal harvesting of Abalone has for many years been endemic along South Africa's coastline and is the biggest threat to the continued survival of Abalone in the wild in its seas. Over the last 25 years, Abalone, once abundant, has been poached to the verge of commercial extinction. As a criminal enterprise Abalone poaching has become a well-planned, highly lucrative, illicit industry, controlled by organized crime syndicates, with large numbers of Abalone being harvested and poached illegally every year. Ninety-five percent of the poached Abalone in South Africa is smuggled out of the country to countries in South-East Asia, where it is a high-priced delicacy. This paper examines some of the factors driving the demand-supply dynamics, modus operandi, syndicate networks and smuggling routes concerning Abalone poaching in South Africa and the authorities' efforts to combat it. Policing of this maritime crime presents its own set of obstacles and difficulties compounded by lack of funds; antipathy of communities dependent on Abalone poaching for economic survival; disbandment of special abalone anti-poaching task forces; high levels of corruption and even collusion between police and poaching syndicates.