Review of Haliotis midae (Version edited for public release) Prepared for the European Commission Directorate General Environment ENV.E.2. – Environmental Agreements and Trade by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre November, 2010 UNEP World Conservation Monitoring PREPARED FOR Centre 219 Huntingdon Road The European Commission, Brussels, Belgium Cambridge CB3 0DL DISCLAIMER United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1223 277314 The contents of this report do not necessarily Fax: +44 (0) 1223 277136 reflect the views or policies of UNEP or Email: [email protected] contributory organisations. The designations Website: www.unep-wcmc.org employed and the presentations do not imply ABOUT UNEP-WORLD CONSERVATION the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on MONITORING CENTRE the part of UNEP, the European Commission or contributory organisations concerning the The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring legal status of any country, territory, city or Centre (UNEP-WCMC), based in Cambridge, area or its authority, or concerning the UK, is the specialist biodiversity information delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. and assessment centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), run cooperatively with WCMC, a UK charity. The © Copyright: 2010, European Commission Centre's mission is to evaluate and highlight the many values of biodiversity and put authoritative biodiversity knowledge at the centre of decision-making. Through the analysis and synthesis of global biodiversity knowledge the Centre provides authoritative, strategic and timely information for conventions, countries and organisations to use in the development and implementation of their policies and decisions. The UNEP-WCMC provides objective and scientifically rigorous procedures and services. These include ecosystem assessments, support for the implementation of environmental agreements, global and regional biodiversity information, research on threats and impacts, and the development of future scenarios. CITATION UNEP-WCMC. 2010. Review of Haliotis midae. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge. 2 Introduction 1. Introduction The endemic marine mollusc Haliotis midae was listed in CITES Appendix III by South Africa in 2007, (CITES Notification No. 2007/007) to help combat the growing problem of illegal harvest and trade (CoP14 Inf. 58). The CITES Trade Data used for this analysis were extracted on 3rd November 2010. 3 Haliotis midae 2. Species review GASTROPODA HALIOTIDAE SPECIES: Haliotis midae SYNONYMS: - COMMON NAMES: Midas Ear Abalone (English), Perlemoen (English) RANGE STATES: South Africa RANGE STATE UNDER REVIEW: South Africa IUCN RED LIST: Not evaluated PREVIOUS EC OPINIONS: - TRADE PATTERNS: Haliotis midae was listed in CITES Appendix III by South Africa on 03/05/07, then deleted on 24/06/10, hence trade data are currently available for the period 2007-2009. Direct exports of H. midae to the EU 2007-2009, consisted of moderate levels of captive-bred and wild- sourced shells, all from South Africa (Table 1). In addition, Poland reported the confiscation/seizure of 14 shells from the United States of America in 2009. The quantity of wild-sourced shells imported by the EU over this period (355 shells) was considerably smaller than the quantity reported by South Africa (11 882 shells); this may be because South Africa reports on permits issued rather than actual trade. The export permit numbers of the 75 wild-sourced shells and 280 wild-sourced shells reported as imports by Germany in 2007 and 2009 did not correspond to any export permits reported in South Africa’s annual reports. Indirect exports of H. midae to the EU consisted of one wild-sourced carving of unknown origin exported by the United States of America to the United Kingdom in 2008. The United Kingdom reported the confiscation/seizure of one carving of unknown origin from the United States in the same year. Direct exports of Haliotis midae to countries other than the EU-27 consisted mainly of captive-bred live specimens, bodies, meat and shells from South Africa (Table 2). There was also some trade in wild- sourced live specimens and meat. The main importers were Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan (Province of China). There were several instances where trade appeared to have been reported by the importer but not by South Africa (Table 2), however an analysis of permit numbers confirmed that the 550 kg of wild- sourced carvings reported as imports by the United States corresponded with a shipment of 550 kg of wild-sourced shells exported by South Africa, and the 420 live captive–bred specimens reported as imports by Japan corresponded with a shipment of 420 kg of live captive-bred specimens exported by 4 Haliotis midae South Africa. No corresponding shipment was found for the 29 kg of captive-bred scientific specimens reported as an import by the United Arab Emirates. Table 1. Direct exports of Haliotis midae to EU-27, 2007-2009. All trade was in shells. Exporter Importer Units Purpose Source Reported by 2007 2008 2009 Total South Africa Germany kg T C Importer 3188 2430 5618 Exporter 4438 3805 8243 T W Importer 75 280 355 Exporter 486 486 Hungary kg T C Importer Exporter 285 100 385 Netherlands kg T C Importer Exporter 5195 4610 9805 T W Importer Exporter 11166 11166 Poland kg T W Importer Exporter 230 230 United States Poland - I Importer 14 14 of America Exporter Subtotals kg C Importer 3188 2430 5618 (main trade Exporter 9918 8515 18433 only) W Importer 75 280 355 Exporter 11882 11882 Table 2. Direct exports of Haliotis midae from South Africa to countries other than the EU-27 2007- 2009. (Note that 2009 annual reports from several of the main non-EU H. midae importers had not been received by 3rd November 2010) Term Units Purpose Source Reported by 2007 2008 2009 Total bodies - T C Importer Exporter 693620 693620 carvings kg T W Importer 550 550 Exporter - P W Importer 2 2 Exporter T W Importer 6 6 Exporter live kg T C Importer 120123 164401 10200 294724 Exporter 1928900 1493700 3422600 W Importer Exporter 8397 8397 - T C Importer 420 420 Exporter 1151930 1151930 meat kg T C Importer 19980 62504 29799 112283 Exporter 1163904 1569792 2733696 W Importer Exporter 52083 52083 shells kg T C Importer Exporter 12000 94296 106296 W Importer 5 Haliotis midae Term Units Purpose Source Reported by 2007 2008 2009 Total Exporter 4550 4550 - T C Importer Exporter 20 20 specimens kg T C Importer 29 29 Exporter ml S I Importer 1 1 Exporter T C Importer 1 1 Exporter 0.1 0.1 - E W Importer Exporter 6 6 It was stated that there was “almost no domestic consumption” of H. midae in South Africa (Bürgener, 2008); however, local restaurants were reported to get some produce from recreational and subsistence fishers (Sauer et al., 2003). The prices of fresh H. midae were reported to have fluctuated between USD 30-40 per kg after 1996, with prices about USD 2-3 lower paid for the frozen product (Sauer et al., 2003). Raemaekers and Britz (2009) stated that “abalone divers in the Eastern Cape were paid between 40 and 60 USD per kg of de-shelled abalone, but could obtain up to 77 USD per kg depending on demand.” The price for dried H. midae was reported to have risen from USD 200 to 300 between the years 1996 and 2000 (Sauer et al., 2003), reaching USD 1000 in 2008 (Fiske, 2008). Particularly in China, dried Haliotis products were reported to have high economic value in traditional medicine (To et al., 2006). Moolla (2008) estimated that the illegal exports of H. midae were ten times bigger than the legal exports. According to To et al. (2006), substantial exports of H. midae from Mozambique to Hong Kong between 1998 and 2002 were likely sourced in South Africa. Bürgener (2008) stated that “apart from the South African fishery and aquaculture production and the Namibian aquaculture operation, there is no other known legal commercial harvesting or trade in abalone in any of the African countries.” Sauer et al. (2003) estimated that about ten illegal factories were producing about 1600-1750 tonnes of canned or dried abalone for the Asian export market every year. Moolla (2008) stated the following about the Asian export trade: “the demand for South Africa’s white-shelled Haliotis midae escalated with the continued boom of both the Hong Kong and Chinese economies. Demand for abalone in Hong Kong, China and other South East Asian nations has increased by an estimated 20% annually between 2004 and 2007. The growth of the South African abalone market in South East Asia has occurred against a backdrop of a collapsing total allowable catch for legal abalone right holders in South Africa and a stagnating abalone farming industry, which produces an average of 900 tonnes of abalone annually. The legal and regulated South African abalone industry – both wild and aquaculture – could have marketed a maximum of 1025 tonnes (shell weight) of [H]aliotis midae to China and Hong Kong during 2006. However, it is understood that Chinese and Hong Kong consumers purchased approximately between 2000 and 2500 tonnes (flesh weight) of South African abalone in 2005 and 2006. These numbers are supported by anecdotal reports by South African law enforcement officials, conservation groups and members of the abalone industry that only about 10% of poached abalone is confiscated by South African authorities.” CONSERVATION STATUS in range states Haliotis midae is a marine mollusc that inhabits rocky surfaces on the subtidal zone (Abbott and Dance, 1991). It was reported to be a South African endemic (Cook and Sweijd, 1999; South Africa, 2007). One record in the Lobito Bay of Angola was listed as “doubtful” by ABMAP (2006). Some farming of H. midae in Namibia was also reported (Ministry of Trade and Industry, 2010).