Western Abalone Divers Association executive officer Harry Peeters said it had received approval from the Victorian Fisheries Authority to sell a small portion of its catch to the local tourism market.

Mr Peeters said most abalone was exported to China but the new approach aimed to target the hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists who visited the Great Ocean Road and other parts of the south-west.

He said WADA planned to sell abalone off the boats at Port Fairy during the coming spring and summer to attract Chinese tourists visiting the Great Ocean Road to venture further along the coast.

“We are also in talks with a number of restaurants,” Mr Peeters said.

Abalone is highly prized in China where it has a long history as a status food. High prices paid for the shellfish have led to many wild abalone stocks across the world being wiped out and Australia has one of the few commercial wild fisheries. 

Mr Peeters said abalone boats operated out of ports across the south-west and there were opportunities for other areas to take part in a coordinated approach to marketing abalone regionally.

He said the abalone fishery was continuing to recover from the virus that wreaked havoc 12 years ago. The industry had been boosted by a lift in abalone prices from $32 a kilogram 12 months ago to $42 a kilogram.