CAPE TOWN - South Africa's cabinet has approved an indefinite ban on commercial abalone fishing to guard against poaching of the shellfish, which is increasingly popular in Asia.  

"It is an indefinite ban until such time that research tells us that the situation has improved drastically," cabinet spokesman Themba Maseko told a media briefing on Thursday.
The government has drastically reduced the total allowable abalone catch in the wild and attempted to encourage saltwater farming of the curlicue-shaped shellfish.

Shipped to Asia as a seafood delicacy, abalone has become a prized commodity for South African entrepreneurs as well as criminals who have poached the mollusc close to extinction.

Abalone is a status symbol in Asia and a reputed aphrodisiac. It has spurred sophisticated smuggling rings, some linked to China's Triad gangs, according to South Africa's Institute of Security Studies.

The amount of illegal abalone confiscated in South Africa has soared to more than 1 million shellfish from 21,000 in 1994.

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