Asia's abalone fever feared wiping out the gourmet mollusc in South Africa

Conservation officials hold bags of abalone confiscated from suspected poachers in Cape Town March 13, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

HOUT BAY, South Africa (Reuters) - In broad daylight, groups of poachers hidden among the rocks of a South African marine conservation area wade slowly into the icy, shark-infested waters of the Atlantic Ocean in search of 'white gold'.

Foot soldiers of a global criminal network stretching from the southernmost tip of Africa to the other side of the globe, they are scouring the rocks for abalone to meet insatiable demand from Asia for the gourmet mollusc.