01-06-2025
Tasmanian abalone exports dive as competition from farmed operations heats up
Tasmania's farmed and wild abalone industries are reeling as demand stalls and export prices plunge.
Chinese farmed abalone has flooded the market, forcing out a lot of Australian farmed product and bringing about the closure of two Tasmanian farms.
"We've lost two farms in Tasmania within the past two months," Nick Savva from the Australian Abalone Growers Association said.
Yumbah Aquaculture will decommission its abalone farm at Bicheno, harvesting all stock and sending juvenile abalone to other Tasmanian farms.
The company says it hopes to redeploy its 16 staff to its oyster operations or to its mainland abalone, mussel and oyster farms.
Yumbah says it plans to focus on greenlip abalone in the future, which is not farmed at Bicheno.
The Dunalley abalone farm owned by Jade Tiger Abalone will close its doors at the end of the month.
Prices for live and wild black-lipped abalone in China have dropped by about 30 per cent.
Demand for high-end abalone products has also fallen by as much as 80 per cent.
"China is being swamped with aquaculture, farmed product, from China into those markets," Tasmanian Abalone Council chief executive Julian Amos said.
Tasmania's biggest live abalone processor, exporter and quota holder, Tasmanian Seafoods, is taking a big hit on prices in particular.
Darvin Hansen, who owns it, sends 250 tonnes of live black-lipped abalone to China each year, and competition in the market on price is getting stronger.
He said competition was coming from a plethora of seafood and cheaper abalone, including farmed abalone that looks like wild-caught abalone.
"There's been a lot of price competition in … the last year or so," Mr Hansen said.
He has also watched as trade wars have sparked uncertainty in Chinese markets, prompting Chinese consumers to spend less.
Niche exporter, Tasmania's Candy Abalone, has taken a huge hit to sales.
"With issues around trade at the moment, and the economic situation in China this year, it's fallen off a cliff," owner James Polanowski said.
"We're doing some hard work behind the scenes to get our abalone back into China."
Candy abalone is a dried whole abalone product that consumers shell out hundreds of dollars a piece.
It takes days to rehydrate and cook, but the slightly sweet, smoky, tender-tasting product is highly valued in the Chinese market and is often given as a gift.
Mr Hansen said a "fire has been lit" under the Tasmanian industry in response to the downturn.
He is enthusiastically supporting a marine stewardship certification for Tasmanian wild-caught abalone.
Mr Hansen said he believed the certification was important for the fishery and to guarantee sustainable practices for the consumer.
"We're pursuing a number of strategies, such as independent sustainability certification, and that's on the back of years of conservative quotas and reviewing biomass," he said.
The Tasmanian Abalone Council's Julian Amos said the industry was considering the certification system, but it had not yet committed to implementing it.
"We've gone through a pre-assessment process with a private audit company, and that process is continuing," Mr Amos said.
The industry has also committed to boosting its marketing presence in China.
Mr Hansen said the industry was currently also "in the final stages" of "preparing a digital platform-based marketing trial in China over the next few months".
"And if that performs well, we'll likely extend or expand that marketing and promotion," he said.
Candy Abalone has employed a Chinese social media expert to help reintroduce its Tasmanian story to the Chinese market.
"I think the most powerful tool today is social media. It's pretty obvious that people have their heads in their phones every day.
"[Our] marketer will help us get into the eyes of the Chinese through Weibo, WeChat and Redbook."
More controversially, Tasmanian Seafoods is also pushing for slot size regulations on the west coast.
It would result in a minimum and maximum size for abalone harvested in that area.
"The industry is … investigating slot size limits to protect the largest, most productive breeding abalone alongside the juveniles," Mr Hansen said.
But it could be a step too far for some abalone fishers, who believe the bigger fish set them apart in the Chinese market.
"I can't say [the council] is supportive. I can't say it's not supportive … we're in a process where we're considering the proposal, and I can't say more than that," Mr Amos said.
"You then have to consider how commercial it will be in terms of the diver in the water.
"They will spend more time getting the amount of fish they need, and therefore, there's a commercial element to it as well."
But Mr Hansen is confident such moves will be the backbone of a revitalised market.
He said proof of sustainability will make the fishery stand out in a crowded Chinese market.
