WHEN the weather is clear teenager Bree Fox dons a wetsuit with her father and dives into shallow waters off the south-west coast to gather sea snails popular among diners.
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Authorities recently granted the 14-year-old, thought to be Australia's youngest commercial diver, permission to dive for periwinkles with her father Craig Fox, an abalone diver.
"I try and catch more than dad on the average day, which I haven't been able to do yet," Bree said. "We go out as many days as we can when the weather is good."
The pair are among a handful of Port Fairy divers testing if local periwinkles, a sea snail popular in Vietnamese dishes, can be harvested sustainably.
"We have only just started doing that in the last six months, it is an exploratory permit to see if there is a fishery there," Mr Fox said.
Victorian Fishing and Boating Minister Jaala Pulford, who granted the permit, also recently allowed some local abalone divers to sell their catch directly to local restaurants.
"We have concentrated on Port Fairy to get it up and running so people will be able to get it straight off the boat," Ms Pulford said.
"It removes some of the bureaucracy and red tape that was inhibiting the connections between local fishers and local restaurants."
The move inspired Port Fairy restaurateur Matt Dempsey to offer local abalone at his fine-diner Galdioli and he now plans to trial periwinkles at his Asian street food restaurant Hawker Kampong.
"The reality is we can't buy direct from a fisherman, so this is a unique circumstance," Mr Dempsey said.
Western Abalone Divers Association executive officer Harry Peeters said a Port Fairy processor closed down after a virus in 2006 decimated abalone supply and divers had since sold most of their catch to Melbourne processors.
Mr Peeters added the local industry welcomed the chance to harvest periwinkles because the shallow-water snail allowed younger divers like Bree to enter the industry, which was "traditionally male dominated".
"A lot of the old fisherman are dying out. It's terribly important that we encourage young people in," he said.
Bree, who wants to study marine biology and continue a career as a commercial diver, said she was proud to be a trailblazer.
"I don't know personally of any other female divers, I haven't met any other female commercial divers, so I'd love for it to become more of a half-and-half industry," she said.
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