Overview
The Abalone Industry Reinvestment Fund (AIRF) is a partnership between Government and the abalone industry which contributes $1 million per year to address Centro range-extension along Tasmania's east coast and enhance abalone stocks.It was established in the 2018-19 Budget for five years with subsequent extension to June 2026.
The fund is administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) with funding advice provided by the AIRF committee. The Committee members include NRE Tas and Tasmanian Abalone Council Ltd (TACL), with research advice from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
Restoration by Harvest Pilot Program: Fortescue Bay
AIRF Funding Recipients
Funding for Centro projects and research
| Funding Year | Project Title | Status | Grant $* |
2026
| Centro Population Survey 2026
| Current
| $250,888
|
2025
| Sea Urchins and PST accumulation during live exposure
| Current
| $150,000
|
2025
| Dive to Dine - Handpicked from Tasmania's Sea
| Current
| $80,000
|
2025
| Culling Urchins with Underwater Drone Tool (Down Deep Drones)
| Current
| $31,080
|
| 2025 | Australia UNI (Sea Urchin) Summit 2025 | Completed | $15,800
|
| 2024 | Hot water - Investigating Australia's Marine Ecosystem (Prime Perspectives Pty Ltd) | Completed
| $7,800
|
| 2023 | Block 21 and 29 Centro Assessment (IMAS) | Completed | $38,891
|
| 2023 | Website Development and Communication products (NRE Tas) | Current | $50,000 |
| 2023 | Long-spined sea urchin on Tasmania's East Coast: an education and engagement program (NRM South) | Completed | $139,050
|
| 2022 | Restoration by Harvest Pilot Program: Fortescue Bay (IMAS) | Current | $299,622
|
| 2022 | Developing a spatial planning framework for long-spined sea urchin control in Tasmania (IMAS) | Completed | $41,934
|
| 2022 | Social-economic analysis for the Tasmanian dive sector (IMAS) | Completed | $101,769
|
| 2021 | Undertake a feasibility study into a long-spined sea urchin removal by volunteers (NRM South) | Completed | $45,000
|
| 2020 | Tasmanian Commercial Dive Industry - Centrostephanus industry short film (TCDA) | Completed | $3,000
|
| 2020 | Understanding Centrostephanus - Age, Growth and Size of Maturity (IMAS) | Completed | $37,581
|
| 2020 | Babel Island take-all research support (IMAS) | Completed | $10,132
|
| 2020 | Babel Island Group (including Babel, Cat, Stonehouse Island) (TCDA) | Completed | $31,000
|
| 2020 | Risk profile for the paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) from Alexandrium cantenella in Tasmanian Sea Urchins (IMAS) | Completed | $92,110
|
| 2020 | Hit Them While They're Down 2020 Centro Cull (J Huddlestone) | Completed | $24,600
|
| 2019 | Centrostephanus Exhibition (IMAS) | Completed | $6,500
|
| 2019 | Resetting urchin barrens: liming as a rapid widespread urchin removal tool (IMAS) | Completed | $65,309
|
| 2019 | Commercial upscaling of urchin fertiliser (IMAS) | Current | $569,944
|
| 2019 | Modelling the fine-scale dispersal of Centrostephanus rodgersii larvae (IMAS) | Current | $25,000
|
| 2019 | Centrostephanus Response Strategy (CSIRO) | Completed | $138,000
|
| 2019 | Effects of Urchin fishing on Urchin population and kelp recovery (IMAS) | Current | $132,303
|
| 2019 | Decadal re-survey of long-term lobster experimental sites to inform Centrostephanus control (IMAS) | Completed | $30,000
|
*Grant Funding is ex GST
Funding for Abalone projects and research
| Funding Year | Project Title | Status | Grant $* |
2025
| Conditioning Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) tools for a closed abalone fishery
| Current
| $15,800
|
2025
| Marketing program for Tasmanian Wild abalone in China and Hong Kong
| Current
| $148,712
|
2025
| Recreational Catch Reporting and Fishing Tas App
| Current
| $32,979.60
|
2025
| Marketing Program for Tasmanian wild abalone in China and Hong Kong (TACL)
| Current
| $98,732
|
| 2025 | Recreational Catch Reporting and Fishing Tas App (NRE Tas) | Current | $32,979
|
| 2024 | Marine Stewardship Council Certification for commercial abalone industry (TACL) | Current | $135,940
|
| 2023 | Testing size limits in a fishery with high heterogenous growth and productivity (IMAS) | Current | $131,672
|
| 2023 | Assessing growth dynamics and connectivity of blacklip abalone populations (IMAS) | Current | $394,810
|
| 2023 | Extensions to the aMSE Management Strategy Evaluation software to address specific Tasmanian needs (Malcolm Haddon) | Completed | $29,7000
|
| 2023 | Toxins in Abalone Industry PhD Program 2024-27 (IMAS) | Current | $136,933
|
| 2022 | Abalone fleet behaviour: does spatial structure of fishing follow stable patterns or do management changes significantly alter spatial structure of effort (IMAS) | Current | $63,370
|
| 2022 | Quantifying potential of the IMAS Timed-Swim program to detect change in stock levels (IMAS) | Current | $272,649
|
| 2022 | Market access for east coast abalone; updated biotoxin risk management (IMAS) | Current | $93,715
|
2021
| Effect of Temperature of Abalone Conditions as a Function of Season, Location and Rate of Change (IMAS) | Completed
| $375,475
|
| 2020 | Nutritional quality of kelp as a key driver of commercial abalone productivity (IMAS) | Current | $353,211
|
| 2020 | Mapping abalone habitat impacted by Centrostephanus on the east coast of Tasmania (IMAS) | Completed | $111,738
|
2019
| AIRF Communications Program (Honey & Fox)
| Completed
| $18,920
|
| 2019 | Centro Cull The Southern Front(J Huddlestone) | Completed | $28,400
|
*Grant Funding is ex GST