A 17-year-old fisherman caught a 30-year-old tuna weighing in close to 600 pounds off Gunnamatta on the Mornington Peninsula last week.
Ryan Gazzola was fishing with two friends when he reeled in the impressive catch â a four-hour feat â and noticed it had an orange tag which said ârewardâ attached to it.
That tag was put on the fish in Hobart 29 years ago.
The young fisherman contacted Fishing Tasmania and the CSIRO, and was informed the tagged fish was the âlongest fish at liberty in Australian historyâ.
âThey wanted me to cut a bit of meat off, they wanted the head and they wanted the tag back because they wanted to do some research on this fish,â he told Ross and Russel.
Had Mr Gazzola heard that news just a few minutes later, he wouldnât have been able to hand over the head.