Farms: WHITE GOLD // South Africa's most valuable snail (Abalone Documentary)

The South African perlemoen is regarded as the most valuable abalone in the world, but the abalone fishery in South Africa is facing a major crisis. With wild abalone populations plummeting due to decades of illegal harvesting, this peculiar sea snail faces commercial extinction. Researcher Warren Witte is looking into the viability of a new initiative called abalone ranching. This involves taking abalone that have been grown on farms and releasing them back into the sea. This offers hope by replenishing wild abalone populations and securing sustainable long term harvests for communities and companies that are willing to protect this resource. From poaching in Hangberg to farming in Haga Haga, we introduce you to the world of the South African abalone and we promise you, you will never look at these strange creatures the same way again. DIRECTED and FILMED by Otto Whitehead (https://instagram.com/wildisee) Warren Witte (https://instagram.com/warren_witte) DRONE FOOTAGE courtesy of Eric Cheng (http://echengphoto.com) Nic Janse Van Rensburg (http://timelinesproductions.com) MUSIC Aeuria A. Taylor Katrina Stone Ryan Taubert Salomon Ligthelm All music licensed from http://musicbed.com INTERVIEWS WITH Peter Britz (Professor at Rhodes University) Kimon de Greef (Freelance Journalist) Tom Swartz (Team Leader at Tactical Task Force) Richard Clark (Managing Director at Wild Coast Abalone) Malcolm Meyer (Hatchery Manager at Wild Coast Abalone) Nomonde Ndlangisa (MSc Researcher at Rhodes University) Ayanda Yekani (Hamburg Community Leader) ADDITIONAL THANKS TO Steve Benjamin (https://instagram.com/animal_ocean) Isabelle Giddy (translator) Lihle Mdaniswa (translator)