When we were at the New Harbour we saw an advert for a tour around the nearby abalone factory which is one of the largest enterprises in the area. Knowing nothing about the sea snails we decided it might be interesting as we were in the area so we booked a tour for 11:00 before we left town. They had another tour booked for 10:00 for a private coach party and asked if we'd mind joining the earlier one which was no problem.
Over breakfast we chatted with Colin about our next stop, 1 night in Malgas and the fact that we only just discovered it was 38kms along an unmade road. He too was concerned that we might have a breakdown or puncture and be stranded miles from anywhere and so made a couple of phone calls to friends who had driven it recently. Given that you're not supposed to drive hire cars on unsealed roads I was particularly anxious and in the end Colin suggested that we go to a place called Arniston Bay (a name I was familiar with thanks to their rather nice Sauvignon Blanc I buy back home) which is near to the most southerly tip of South Africa and a safe place to visit. We were very grateful for his input and luckily were able to get a room for that night in the only hotel there.
Having finished breakfast and packed the car we set off for the Heart of Abalone where we were warmly greeted and asked to wait whilst the Singapore coach party arrived - only it never did. Apparently driving from Cape Town some of the group got hungry so they decided to switch things around and stop for breakfast and do the tour in the afternoon. Kurt, the guy doing our tour was really annoyed as not only had they messed us around, but it involved a tasting afterwards (oh no, not me!) and this rather expensive produce had already been prepared for the 25+ due to arrive.
Abalone used to be common in the rock pools of South Africa’s coastline
and recreational divers spent their free time taking out their quota of abalone
and preparing it in various delicious forms.
The South African abalone species Haliotis midae is traditionally known for its great taste and is
called “perlemoen” in Afrikaans and Dutch, referring to its beautiful
mother-of-pearl shell. It is not only
seen as a delicacy by locals, but also by Chinese who regard it as a special
gourmet treat served at celebratory events such as weddings and birthdays. As the demand for abalone started to surpass
the supply, unfortunately not all divers and consumers followed the
restrictions for quotas set by the Government to preserve this precious resource
and poaching became a big threat to its sustainability.
In 1984 a Hermanus vet started to experiment with the breeding of abalone in tanks on land. The first experiments were done in small fish tanks at home with his two young boys helping carry buckets of water from the sea to their home, for the animals to have fresh aerated seawater. Experimental feeds were produced with his wife's kitchen mixer and their boys' potato guns!
What the vet didn’t realise, was that his fun home experiment was actually pioneering work for the commercial South African farmed abalone industry that today exports more than 1,000 tonnes of abalone a year to the Asian market. Abagold (lovely play on words) was founded in 1995 and now this public company is one of the largest farms in the country.
The plant is huge and is the largest employer in the area.
We were only going to visit a small fraction of the site but first we had to don some very attractive wellies.
We weren't allowed to see inside the abalone sexing station. Unlike many molluscs they are not hermaphrodites and males are distinguished by having a pale or beige sex gland whereas the females have a dark green or grey-green gonad. Females are prolific spawners and can release 10,000-11,000,000 eggs in one go.
Kurt was very proud of the water filtration system they have built.
This is what they feed on which is a natural seaweed with added nutrients.
The black cones are to restrict the amount of light the creatures get.
At this tiny size they are really cute and a beautiful colour.
Their ability to cling on tightly is amazing.
After the tour came the tasting. I'd said from the off there was no way I was trying one so had booked the tour only but Ian thought he might until he saw them. The first was chopped up small with added tomato and seasoning, the second thinly sliced and the last one just whole. Ian said he couldn't taste the "fish" on the first one, the second one tasted like salty shoe leather and was disgusting and he couldn't bring himself to try the whole one - bit of a waste of £12.50 really!
The top quality ones are usually flown to the Far East, packed on ice, but there is also a canning operation so we bought a can for friend Pete who is always up for trying new stuff, on the strict understanding we wouldn't be going round for that meal.
Not the usual kind of tourist tour but interesting nevertheless.