FIVE of the largest abalone farms in Australia have joined forces to form an export marketing company - the first for Australian aquaculture - called Ausab Pty Ltd.
Abalone is one of the most highly-valued sea creatures on the planet. They have been traded and given as gifts for centuries. In some cultures, mostly Asian, they are considered a symbol of good fortune and are even thought to have medicinal and aphrodisiac powers.
While Australia's wild abalone fisheries are managed very well, populations of the mollusc in wild fisheries environments have declined rapidly in many countries.
