Reputed to have aphrodisiac properties, they are more commonly prepared for special or ceremonial occasions. Poaching has meant considerable wealth for a handful of middlemen, but very little social or economic benefits for the majority of inhabitants of depressed coastal settlements in the most heavily poached areas. The University of Cape Town's marine biology research institute found that the abalone population around Hermanus is in danger of collapse. The marine emergency extends to fish as well as abalone. Under the Cape Action Plan for the Environment, conservation officials are now developing a strategic plan to conserve marine biodiversity in the Cape Floral Kingdom - the smallest and most diverse of the world's six floral kingdoms, and also the most threatened.
Recreational diver finds abalone in a Cape marine protected area.
Its 90,000 square kilometer area classified as the Cape Floral Kingdom stretches as an L-shaped coastal belt from Clanwilliam in the north to Humansdorp in the east, bridging the Western and Eastern Cape provinces. The Cape Peninsula Biodiversity Conservation Project is financed by the Global Environment Facility in the amount of US12.4 million through 2004. The CAPE project is not limited to research on the region's plant life. It also has aquatic marine, estuarine and freshwater components. Effective law enforcement, joint training strategies and a comprehensive coastal monitoring compliance programme have been identified by the CAPE project has identified as priorities to achieve its marine conservation targets.