Robben Island in South Africa is getting to be notorious again — and this time it’s not for racial oppression.

The apartheid-era prison on the island is now a tourist attraction, where visitors from around the world pause with reverence outside the cell where Nelson Mandela was kept. The ferry ride back to the mainland merely deepens the sense of isolation that the inmates must have felt.

But the waters surrounding Robben Island, just off the coast near Cape Town, also happen to be among the richest in the world for delicious shellfish — especially abalone, which is highly prized in Asia. That has made the island a hot spot for shellfish poaching.