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Abalones are gastropod (stomach-footed) molluscs. Their soft bodies consist of a large muscular foot (the edible part) and internal organs that are protected by one flat ear-shaped shell. The colour of the foot generally gives the species its name. The outside of the shell is coloured to blend in with their habitat of browns, reds and green. The inside of the shell is silvery in colour much like mother-of-pearl.
Two species of wild abalone, blacklip abalone (Haliotis rubra) and greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata), are harvested from Victorian waters.
Abalones live hidden in rocky reefs and feed on drifting pieces of seaweed and seagrass pieces. Blacklip abalones prefer high wave energy coastal waters living in rocky gutters and on near vertical rock faces. Greenlip abalones find suitable places to live on the sheltered side of rocky headlands. Populations of greenlip are found scattered along the coast to Wilson's Promontory. Blacklip are found more continuously along the coastline.
Breeding takes place annually after individuals reach maturity at about 4 years of age. Abalone can grow to a maximum shell length of 22cm. Typically they are 11-16cm.
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Commercial abalone fishing started in 1962 with divers requiring a general fishing licence. The early divers were young and were attracted to the fishery by the lifestyle offered. Divers using masks and snorkels collected abalone from rocky reefs. Production peaked during 1967 with about 200 divers harvesting 3,384 tonnes.
In 1968 the Fisheries Act introduced an Abalone Fishing Licence and this reduced the number of divers to 108. Legal minimum lengths were added for blacklip and greenlip. For blacklip abalone in Port Phillip Bay the minimum size is 10cm, 11cm for coastal waters between Lorne and Lakes Entrance and 12cm elsewhere in the state. The minimum size for greenlip abalone is 13cm. The fishery was also divided into two management zones, Eastern and Western and in 1970 and third management zone, Central, was added.
Licences were made transferable on a two for one basis in 1984 to encourage younger divers into the fishery.
A change to the management system saw the introduction of a total allowable catch in 1988. The TAC was shared equally among the divers with each licence holder allocated 20 tonnes a year. At this time the fishing zones were also redefined and management controls have remained unchanged.
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Abalone are found and lifted off the reef with a rounded spatula-like tool by individuals diving. Divers need to ensure that they do not injure an abalone because their clear blood can go unnoticed and loss of blood is usually fatal. Divers use underwater breathing apparatus like hookah or SCUBA.
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Divers wear wetsuits to protect them from exposure and have lead weight-belts to help them reach the seabed. When using hookah, compressed air is supplied via a length of hose to the diver's breathing regulator. Divers also carry a small air tank for emergencies. Collected abalone are placed in a mesh bag and taken to the support boat on the surface for sizing and packing.
Legal harvesting operations have a minimal impact on the marine ecosystem and are completely non-destructive on the environment.
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Commercial access to the resource is limited to a total of 71 Abalone Access Licence holders. Each licence holder has an annual quota entitlement that is harvested and delivered to processors under very strict conditions. Management of the fishery is strictly controlled with catch limits, minimum size limits and for greenlip abalone closed seasons.
The commercial fishery is managed through three zones:
Eastern Zone - from the NSW/Victorian border to Lakes Entrance .
Central Zone - from Lakes Entrance to the Hopkins River near Warrnambool .
Western Zone - from the Hopkins River to the Victorian/SA border.
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Abalone is Victoria's most valuable commercial fishery and is valued at an estimated AU$45 million annually.
Victoria is a very significant contributor to the total Australian abalone harvest, and Australia is the largest supplier of wild abalone to the world market.
In addition to the licence holders the abalone fishery provides employment for operational divers, crew members and people in processing and exporting.
Investment in the catching sector alone is in excess of AU$150 million.
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| Under legislation legally caught abalone can only be sold to a licensed processor. There are 14 licensed abalone processors in Victoria. They are located in Melbourne and in coastal centres like Mallacoota and Port Fairy . In these regional centres the abalone-processing factory is an important business to the local community by being an employer and also a purchaser of local products and services. |
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Live abalones are transported to a licensed processor in sealed bins. The processor needs authorisation from Fisheries Victoria before they can open the bins. Abalone is processed into a number of products including canned, frozen meat, frozen on-shell, parboiled, shelf stable pouches, dried and live. For live abalone individuals are placed into holding tanks before being cooled down and packed into polystyrene boxes and airfreighted. For cooked products the abalone meat is removed from the shell and the mantle and guts are removed. The abalone meats are washed thoroughly and packaged ready for cooking in either cans or plastic pouches.
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Most abalone is exported to Asian markets countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Some abalone is exported to the USA and Europe.
Increasing amounts of abalone are now being sold domestically. This is the result of the increased cultural diversity in local communities.
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People involved in the abalone industry have been at the forefront of management decisions. Industry has put forward a number of ideas to control effort in the fishery.
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Fish theft (poaching) is now generally acknowledged to be the greatest single threat to Victoria's wild abalone resource. Industry has generated precautionary harvest limits for the commercial fishery that are accepted in achieving long term sustainable use of the resource.
Industry is currently involved in preparation of a draft Management Plan for the fishery.
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