Abalone diving in Western Australia diving practices in 1999.

Abstract

Introduction: Abalone divers are only one group of Australian diving fishermen. They work in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, diving mostly in shallow water. This is not always possible because of overfishing in past years and the activities of poachers who do not have abalone licences. Other groups of diving fishermen include pearl divers, who have been working in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland for over 100 years; divers on Tasmanian salmon farms, where the salmon are fattened in moored nets, since the 1980s; divers doing the same sort of work and more for the tuna farms in South Australia since the 1990s: and other divers who collect tropical fish, periwinkles, and other shellfish.