Model of a purse seiner (fishing boat)
Maker
Jim Cato
Date1991
Object number00015610
NameModel
DimensionsOverall: 320 x 600 x 125 mm, 0.95 kg
ClassificationsModels
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis 1:100 scale model represents a high tech, purpose built tuna purse seiner. It was based on a design by Australian Shipbuilding Industries, Western Australia and built by model maker Jim Cato in 1991.HistoryA purse seiner is a vast net towed by a specially-built boat around a school of tuna. The net, massive in both area and weight, can be closed at the bottom by a drawstring, like a huge purse. Whole schools weighing up to 200 tonnes can be trapped. Such efficiency has greatly threatened fish stocks.
Five commercially important species of tuna are caught off South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia as the fish pass on their migratory routes. Overfishing has drastically reduced numbers, particularly of the southern bluefin tuna. To overcome the problem quotas are set which limit the total amount of tuna caught in a season. However demand has almost outstripped supply. The canning industry and the export of whole frozen or chilled tuna keep the fisheries alive in the 2010s - but only while the stocks last.SignificanceThis model is representative of the tuna fishing trade in Australia and the role of the purse seiner in commercial fishing.
late 1940s - 2010