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The fisheries department says it will spend three years researching perlemoen stocks along the Eastern Cape coast.
Fisheries department spokesman Lionel Adendorf said in parliament yesterday that diving companies would perform the research on its behalf and recover about 31 tons of perlemoen a year.
It was hoped this would shed light not only on the distribution and size of perlemoen stocks, but the possibility of viable perlemoen harvesting in future.
The department has not previously granted any perlemoen permits for the seven affected areas, which include St Francis Bay and Jeffreys Bay.
Adendorf said local communities would benefit from the sale of the harvested perlemoen.
The Democratic Alliance said the project raised red lights for conservation and several questions on logistics.
