Editing Abalone (section)

====Australia====
[[Tasmania]] supplies about 25% of the yearly world abalone harvest.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon|2014}}</ref> Around 12,500 Tasmanians recreationally fish for [[Haliotis rubra|blacklip]] and [[Haliotis laevigata|greenlip]] abalone. For blacklip abalone, the size limit varies between {{convert|138|mm|in|abbr=on}} for the southern end of the state and {{convert|127|mm|in|abbr=on}} for the northern end of the state.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon|2014a}}</ref> Greenlip abalone have a minimum size of {{convert|145|mm|in|abbr=on}}, except for an area around [[Perkins Bay]] in the north of the state where the minimum size is {{convert|132|mm|in}}. With a recreational abalone licence, the bag limit is 10 per day, with a total possession limit of 20. [[Scuba diving]] for abalone is allowed, and has a rich history in Australia. (Scuba diving for abalone in the states of [[New South Wales]] and [[Western Australia]] is illegal; a [[free-diving]] catch limit of two is allowed).<ref>{{cite web|title=FRDC blacklip abalone|url=http://fish.gov.au/reports/molluscs/abalones/Pages/blacklip_abalone.aspx|access-date=5 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909021551/http://www.fish.gov.au/reports/molluscs/abalones/Pages/blacklip_abalone.aspx|archive-date=9 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FRDC greenlip abalone|url=http://fish.gov.au/reports/molluscs/abalones/Pages/greenlip_abalone.aspx|access-date=5 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904073427/http://www.fish.gov.au/reports/molluscs/abalones/Pages/greenlip_abalone.aspx|archive-date=4 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] has had an active abalone fishery since the late 1950s. The state is sectioned into three fishing zones, Eastern, Central and Western, with each fisher required a zone-allocated licence. Harvesting is performed by divers using surface-supplied air "hookah" systems operating from runabout-style, outboard-powered boats. While the diver seeks out colonies of abalone amongst the reef beds, the deckhand operates the boat, known as working "live" and stays above where the diver is working. Bags of abalone pried from the rocks are brought to the surface by the diver or by way of "shot line", where the deckhand drops a weighted rope for the catch bag to be connected then retrieved. Divers measure each abalone before removing from the reef and the deckhand remeasures each abalone and removes excess weed growth from the shell. Since 2002, the Victorian industry has seen a significant decline in catches, with the total allowable catch reduced from 1440 to 787 tonnes for the 2011/12 [[fishing year]], due to dwindling stocks and most notably the abalone virus [[ganglioneuritis]], which is fast-spreading and lethal to abalone stocks.