1. Introduction
South Africa has five endemic abalone species of which Haliotis midae, locally known as “perlemoen”, is the largest growing and most abundant. Its large size, widespread distribution and high mar- ket value make this abalone a prime target for commercial exploita- tion. Growing concerns regarding the sustainability of the abalone fishery lead the South African government to impose increasingly stricter regulations culminating in the closure of the fishery in 2008
for fear of a collapse of natural populations (Day and Branch, 2000; Hauck and Sweijd, 1999; Raemaekers et al., 2011). The fishery has now reopened to allow subsistence fishers to draw income from the natural resource (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), 2010).
With the rapid decline of the fishery and a steady increase in the global demand for abalone products, emphasis was placed on aqua- culture as an alternative means to expand the industry in a sustain- able manner. Currently, South Africa has 14 abalone aquaculture facilities operating at various levels of production with a total output of 1015.44 metric tons, valued at 355 million ZAR (approximately