Abalone Tours
Abalone Tours in Hermanus
Abalone farming
is a massive industry in South Africa and in particular in Hermanus
where there are two main Abalone Farms providing much of the employment
in the area as well as discouraging the poaching of Abalone which was a
massive industry in the past.
The sale of Abalone to the Asian markets offers a good income for Hermanus, however, with very strict
licensing only registered Abalone Farms may sell and export to these viable markets where
Abalone are a sought after
delicacy.
The Abalone are bred and managed from fertility through to the
adulthood, when they’ve reached maturity (approx 4 years) they are sold
either live, canned or frozen to the Asian markets.
Abalone Tours offer visitors from around the world the
opportunity to see the growth stages of these delicacies through to the
final distribution stage in the farm environment. It also offers
potential abalone buyers from the
Asian countries the
opportunity to see first hand the love and attention given to the health
and well being of the Abalone from inception to adulthood.
Abalone Tours organised for you, by us at Livesey Lodge
Guest House. Please mention when booking your accommodation at Livesey
Lodge of your intention to take an Abalone Tours and we will be sure to
make enquiries and book the Abalone Tours on your behalf.
When visiting Hermanus, we highly recommend
Abalone Tours to fully appreciate all that this interesting town has to offer.
HIK Abalone Farm (Pty) Ltd
In today’s competitive climate it is essential that aquaculture
companies remain at the forefront of product development, meeting
increasing global demand for quality cultured products and maintaining
the highest industry standards. HIK Abalone Farm (Pty) Ltd and its Group
Companies are committed to exceeding industry standards through the
continued evaluation of candidate aquaculture species and the adoption
of best-practice environmental policies.
Abalone farmer extraordinaire, talks to Denene Erasmus about farming these sought after sea delicacies.
A few decades ago the only option for someone with a passion for
farming and the ocean would have been to buy a farm near the sea or go
on a beach holiday when the harvest was in, but this is no longer the
case. With rising global demand for fish and seafood products, the
aquaculture and mariculture industries are expanding quickly.
Adri Claassen, winner of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries’ award for Top Female Farmer Entrepreneur Exporter in the
Western Cape has found her vocation, working on one of South Africa’s
foremost abalone farms based in Hermanus.
A career in mariculture
Adri, who grew up on a tobacco farm, welcomed the opportunity
to get involved in abalone farming which allowed her to pursue her twin
passions for marine life and farming. “I started in 2003 as an assistant
hatchery manager and became hatchery manager in 2005. In 2008 I was
promoted to production manager and in 2010 I became the operational
manager of the farm,” she explains.
Adri works for Aquafarm Development (Pty) Ltd, an abalone farm in
Hermanus which forms part of the TerraSan group of companies. The farm
takes up 1,85ha of land, bordering the ocean, in the new harbour area of
this tourist town in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. Staff
there boast that they have one of the most remarkable views in the
world.
And, during the whale season, Adri can spend her coffee breaks at the
water’s edge doing a bit of whale watching. Adri’s enthusiasm is not
only for the wide blue Atlantic that serves as the water source for the
farming operation, but also for the strange creatures she farms. During a
tour of the abalone farm she is keen to share her knowledge of these
animals and often draws attention to the unique beauty of the large
marine molluscs.
Farming with Abalone
Adri explains that the abalone hatchery is divided into four
specialised departments: the broodstock, larvae, settlement and weaning
areas. “Brood animals, (broodstock), are selected for their superior
appearance and performance characteristics and are housed in a tightly
managed environment which maintains them in spawning condition
year-round. They are cleaned and fed fresh kelp twice a week,” she says.
Broodstock is divided into different spawning groups, with each group
spawned at six-week intervals. The males and females are separated and
spawned eggs and sperm are collected and mixed manually in a set ratio
to aid good fertilisation. Within a day of fertilisation, a
free-swimming larva emerges from the egg membrane. These microscopic,
yolk-nourished larvae are housed in filtered seawater tanks, and allowed
to develop for six to seven days during which time they are monitored
daily.
“After about a week the larvae have developed feeding mouthparts and a
foot with which they attach to the substrate. At this stage they are
transferred into settlement tanks, and presented with a select diet of
micro-algae (diatoms), grown on polycarbonate plates. “As the larvae
start grazing on the food source, they will attach to the plates, lose
the ability to swim, and metamorphose into perfect baby abalone called
spat,” says Adri.
Spat remain on these plates for the next three months during which time
they deplete the micro-algae. At this stage the spat should be between
3mm and 5mm long. Prior to moving them the water is dosed with magnesium
sulphate. This relaxes the muscular foot, clamped onto the substrate,
and enables workers to move them easily without injuring them. They are
size sorted and transferred into the weaning tanks.
“Once here, the spat are slowly taken off the micro-algae diet and introduced to a formulated diet called Abfeed,” she says.
Abfeed is a cost-effective, dry feed, manufactured by Marifeed in
Hermanus, that improves abalone growth rates. In the weaning tanks the
spat, tended by dedicated workers, quickly adapt to the new environment
and diet. For the next three months they grow out rapidly, to a length
of approximately 10mm, says Adri. Now the spat are big and hardy enough
to handle the growout environment.
The water is dosed again, the abalone removed from the substrate, size
sorted and transferred to the growout platform where they are placed in
baskets in the tanks. “Once here, abalone takes about three to four
years to grow to a marketable size. During this time they are fed
size-graduated Abfeed pellets. At regular intervals their growth is
checked and the data entered into a database that allows Adri to track
the performance of each batch.
Health and hygiene is very important as abalone are sensitive to
compromised environments. The tanks holding the baskets are cleaned once
a week and water supply and removal infrastructure is cleaned once a
month. A vet samples the molluscs in a regular health monitoring
programme and the SABS tests the product to ensure that it is of an
acceptably high quality.
Production costs and marketing
“We harvest the abalone at weights ranging from 30g to 250g
depending on market demands,” Adri says. The farm, which produces
between 70t and 80t of abalone per year, has shares in a processing
facility. About half the abalone produced on the farm is exported live,
the other half is canned or dried.
“All the abalone we produce is exported to the Far East. Hong Kong is
our largest market and accounts for about 60% of sales while Japan and
Taiwan buy about 20% of our stock each,” she says. Adri explains that
production costs are high. Abalone farming is labour intensive and about
85 people are employed on Aquafarm.
Water must be continuously pumped ashore to keep the abalone in good
health which makes electricity consumption high. Another factor that
affects profit margins is the volatility of the rand/dollar exchange
rate, since the product is sold in dollars.
She is not keen to discuss prices but says that farmers can get between
US$35 (R278)/kg to UD$45 (R357)/ kg, depending on the size and quality
of the product.
Future outlook
Projected plans for the farm include implementing cost-saving changes and farming with an emphasis on renewable energy.
The feasibility of a turbine to generate electricity by harnessing the
energy of water flowing back into the sea is being investigated. The
possibility of using solar power is also being considered. As far as her
own plans for the future are concerned, Adri seems happy where she is,
and rightfully so. With her career path already lined with achievements,
she is content to work towards improving the profitability and
productivity of this enterprise.
| ABALONE FARMING KEY TO FUTURE GROWTH OF AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY IN SA
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6 March 2013: Abalone farming in South Africa is becoming
increasingly important in protecting the abalone species, as well as
establishing the basis for the future development of the national
aquaculture industry.
This is according to Rudi van Niekerk, Investment Advisor at
Agri-Vie, the Sub-Saharan private equity fund investing in food and
agribusiness, and a principal shareholder in HIK Abalone Farms, who
explains that investments into sustainable abalone projects are vital to
saving the endangered species and alleviating the pressure on global
natural fish resources.
Louise Jansen, Executive Director at HIK Abalone Farm, says that the
last two decades have seen phenomenal increases in the amount of
cultured abalone product entering the markets, particularly Asia. “In
South Africa alone, abalone production from aquaculture facilities has
increased from zero in the 1990’s to an estimated current level of
approximately 1,200 tons, making South Africa one the biggest producers
of abalone outside of Asia. Most farms are expanding production and the
industry is set to grow to at least 5,000 tons in the next 10 years.”
“However, it is estimated that through illegal poaching some
populations of wild abalone are being obliterated overnight. It takes
between four to five years before abalone reaches commercial sizes, and
because no size uniformity for stocks is enforced, harvested abalone
that has not yet reached sexual maturity creates a situation where an
ever widening generation gap develops. The inevitable result is that
wild South African abalone will be extinct within the next few years,”
Jansen says.
She adds, “Due to the decreasing stocks of the local wild species of
abalone through ignorance or illegal harvesting, and the difficulties in
policing illegal poaching, land-based pump-ashore aquaculture farms
were established to meet demand and to prevent the species from
extinction.”
Jansen explains an abalone farm can operate successfully with
virtually no impact on the natural environment. “Abalone farms require
specific permits and need to adhere to specific permit conditions in
order to operate in South Africa. The abalone is managed under tightly
controlled conditions, resulting in a consistent and high quality
product with emphasis on ensuring abalone and human health.”
Van Niekerk adds that the South African government is focused on
making the aquaculture industry as sustainable as possible. “By
partnering with HIK, Agri-Vie not only brings additional skills to the
business, but also much needed expansion capital. HIK has identified
several exciting expansion opportunities in both abalone farming and
fish farming. Agri-Vie’s capital support of these initiatives plays an
important role in developing and growing aquaculture as a business
sector in a sustainable manner that meets the government’s
requirements.”
He says that as natural fish resources are under pressure and are in
decline, aquaculture is increasingly becoming one of the most important
providers of protein to the rapidly increasing population. “Our vision
is to expand aquaculture activities in a way that creates jobs, relieves
pressure on natural fish resources, contributes to food security and is
profitable in order to be sustainable,” says van Niekerk.
Based on the HIK initiative, Agri-Vie won the Agribusiness Investment
Initiative of the Year award at the African Investor Agribusiness
Investment Awards 2012, held in December 2012.
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Aquaculture farms can help protect endangered abalone
INVESTMENT in sustainable abalone projects is vital to saving the
endangered species and easing the pressure on global fish resources,
says Rudi van Niekerk, investment adviser at Agri-Vie, the sub-Saharan
food and agribusiness private equity fund.
In a bid to protect
abalone from overfishing due to Asian market demands, the government is
encouraging abalone farming as part of the development of South Africa’s
aquaculture industry.
Agri-Vie is a principal shareholder in HIK Abalone Farm, located in Hermanus in the Western Cape.
It
is estimated that illegal poaching is obliterating some populations of
wild abalone overnight. It takes four to five years before abalone grows
to commercial harvest size, but experts warn that because size
uniformity for stocks is not enforced, harvested abalone that has not
yet reached sexual maturity is creating an ever-widening generation gap.
As a result, wild South African abalone could be extinct within the next few years.
A
discussion document on South Africa’s fisheries released on Monday
revealed little economic analysis had been done on the size of the
country’s fishing markets over the past decade.
In the document,
Statistics South Africa noted that the country’s fishing industry was
well established, but it "faces challenges in its ability to ensure the
sustainable use of the fisheries as a resource".
The findings were
that South Africa had an estimated 572,000 tons of hake available for
exploitation in 2011, the highest tonnage since 2000. It was estimated
that 123,000 tons of hake had been caught in 2011. Hake is South
Africa’s most lucrative exportable fishing species.
Threatened
fish stocks include deep-water hake, sharks (optimal to depleted), west
and south coast rock lobster, tuna (abundant to depleted), tuna
(abundant to heavily depleted) and abalone.
Louise Jansen,
executive director at HIK Abalone Farm, said that due to the decreasing
stocks of local wild abalone through illegal harvesting and the
difficulties in policing illegal poaching, "land-based, pump-ashore
aquaculture farms were established to meet demand and to prevent the
species from extinction".
She said the past two decades had seen
phenomenal increases in the quantity of cultured abalone products
entering global markets, particularly in Asia.
"In South Africa
alone, abalone production from aquaculture facilities has increased from
zero in the 1990s to an estimated current level of approximately 1,200
tons, making South Africa one the biggest producers of abalone outside
of Asia," she said. "Most farms are expanding production and the
industry is set to grow to at least 5,000 tons in the next 10 years."
Abalone farms require specific permits and need to adhere to specific permit conditions to operate in South Africa.
Ms
Jansen said an abalone farm could operate with virtually no effect on
the natural environment. "The abalone is managed under tightly
controlled conditions, resulting in a consistent and high-quality
product with emphasis on ensuring abalone and human health."
Mr
van Niekerk said the government was focusing on making the aquaculture
industry as sustainable as possible. He said that as natural fish
resources were under pressure and in decline, aquaculture was
increasingly becoming an important way of providing protein to a growing
population.
He said Agri-Vie had partnered with HIK to bring
additional skills and expansion capital to the business. HIK has
identified expansion opportunities in both abalone farming and fish
farming.
"Agri-Vie’s capital support of these initiatives plays an
important role in developing and growing aquaculture as a business
sector in a sustainable manner that meets the government’s
requirements," he said.
The California red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, is a species of very large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones, ormer shells or paua.
