Known locally as perlemoen, abalone plays an important ecological role.
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Three of them pulled on tattered wet suits as the fourth kept watch; a few minutes later, they splashed into the frigid water with snorkels and began hunting for "perlemoen," the Afrikaans term for abalone, derived from "mother-of-pearl," for the shell's inner sheen.
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In 2002, the police attempted to seize at least twenty bags of illegally harvested abalone or perlemoen in an area infamous for perlemoen poaching. During that exercise, a belligerent crowd gathered, opposing the removal of the haul by the police. The crowd then began stoning the police, forcing their retreat. That allowed the crowd to make off with most the bags of perlemoen.
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The sea snail perlemoen abalone is targeted by illegal fishing and remain overfished.
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These rebuild shacks were used to mature the small perlemoen to a reasonable size before they were sold to perlemoen farms. When the business relocated to the new harbour the building was still used in public private partnership with Hermanus Abalone for perlemoen displays and talks for visitors until January 2005 when they joined the business in the new harbour. The nursery then housed the contents from the reduced storage area after the hatchery was vacated to accommodate the SA Shark Conservancy. A section was used to store some of the décor for the annual 'Passiespele' .
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Live individual of Haliotis midae in situ Haliotis midae, known commonly as the South African abalone or the perlemoen abalone, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones.
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Penguin Colony at Betty's Bay There is a small breeding colony of African penguins Spheniscus demersus. The region was notable for high population of Perlemoen, the abalone species Haliotis midae, but this has been heavily depleted by poaching.
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This building was built on an area where fishing shacks previously stood. It was developed as a hatchery to accommodate the first perlemoen farming in Hermanus, started by Dr. Pierre Hugo. When the business grew too big it relocated to the new harbour. The hatchery then housed the indoor education centre and storage area.
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Abalone ( or ; via Spanish ', from Rumsen aulón) is a common name for any of a group of small to very large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and muttonfish or muttonshells in Australia, ormer in the UK, perlemoen in South Africa, and paua in New Zealand. Abalone are marine snails. Their taxonomy puts them in the family Haliotidae, which contains only one genus, Haliotis, which once contained six subgenera.
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The MPA is bounded by the high-water mark in the Langebaan lagoon south of the northern boundary, which is a line from Leentjiesklip No.2, at S33°03.707′, E018°2.462', towards Salamander Point at S33°04.323′, E017°59.795′, until it meets the seaward boundary of the South African National Defence Force area, as demarcated by buoys shown on SAN Chart SC2, and then along this boundary to the yellow buoy east of Meeu Island at S33°05.166, E018°00.809′, and then to Perlemoen Point at S33°05.590′, E048°00,211' on the western shore of the lagoon.
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