{"id":524194,"date":"2026-01-18T02:59:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T02:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/524194\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T02:59:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T02:59:21","slug":"tunaramas-return-lures-big-fish-back-to-seafood-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/524194\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunarama’s return lures big fish back to seafood capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of people have turned out to support the quirky Port Lincoln Tunarama Festival on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula this weekend after the 60-year-old festival was canned two years ago due to sponsorship issues and committee burnout.<\/p>\n

The festival was resurrected by the Port Lincoln City Council after a public outcry and a series of public meetings and workshops.<\/p>\n

Council economic and tourism development manager and festival coordinator Naomi Blacker said Tunarama was a key tourism attraction for the city, supported by locals and visitors, with 20,000 people visiting over the four-day festival.<\/p>\n

“Accommodation in the city is booked out,” Ms Blacker said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The “tuna toss” event is a popular drawcard for competitors and tourists. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

Festival ambassador, hometown hero and Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers officiated at the “tuna toss” and “swim thru” events and has fond memories of the festival.<\/p>\n

“Coming down and watching as a kid \u2014 I think at that stage it was still the real tuna, as well, it wasn’t actually the rubber tuna \u2014 seeing them being tossed was pretty good fun,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s always very special coming home.<\/p>\n

“But coming home for a festival and a purpose and something that I grew up supporting and loving each year \u2014 and looking forward to \u2014 is really great.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

There was a large crowd watching the “swim thru” event, which was officiated by Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

The swimming champion has his sights set on making the Commonwealth Games this year and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.<\/p>\n

He was unable to compete in the “swim thru” or the “tuna toss”.<\/p>\n

“I’m just starting to get back into training, I got married here a week ago and I’m getting a bit older now so I really have to manage what I can and can’t do, unfortunately,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m due to race in Dubai in two weeks’ time, so with the previous injuries I’ve had \u2014 I’ve had both my shoulders operated on, I’ve had 10 cortisones in my back, my ankle operated on twice \u2014 I’m very wary about load management and looking after my body.<\/p>\n

“My coaches weren’t overly thrilled with the idea of me racing a kilometre ocean race when I only race 50 metres.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The return of the festival drew a huge crowd to Port Lincoln’s foreshore lawns. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

The “tuna toss” was also a risk.<\/p>\n

“My shoulders are stuffed. I tried practising trying to do it but there is no chance I could throw a tuna at all,” Chalmers said.<\/p>\n

“Once my professional sporting career is done, definitely I’ll be involved in as many activities at Tunarama as possible, but for now I have to be very, very careful and cautious of my body.”<\/p>\n

The world-famous “tuna toss” was first launched in 1980 with real southern blue-fin tuna caught in the Great Australian Bight.<\/p>\n

A rope was threaded through the gills of the fish and competitors lined up to launch it, in a style similar to hammer-throwing, from the town’s foreshore lawn towards the ocean.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Competitors hurl a 10kg fake tuna in the famous “tuna toss” event. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

Two-time Commonwealth gold medallist Sean Carlin still holds the record for the longest toss: 37.23 metres in 1998.<\/p>\n

Rubber replica tuna are now used, weighing 10 kilograms, after concerns about the waste of using real fish.<\/p>\n

Spin-off Tunarama events include a “kingfish toss” and a “prawn toss” \u2014 both seafood specialties from the region \u2014 for teens and under-10s respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The nautical theme continues with a competition to build and race plywood boats.<\/p>\n

Sombre tribute to those lost at sea\"A<\/p>\n

The blessing of the fleet was an emotional ceremony at the marina. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

There was also a tribute those who make their living in or on the sea, in the form of the blessing of the fleet.<\/p>\n

The importance of the ceremony was highlighted by mayor Diana Mislov who spoke about losing her fianc\u00e9, whose name is among the many carved into a memorial for fishermen lost at sea.<\/p>\n

The ceremony also recognised the migrant families from Europe who brought generations of boating and fishing knowledge to the region.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The multicultural flavour of the city featured in the street procession. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

Port Lincoln Multicultural Council president Diana Smith said it was “extremely important” to remember the role of immigrants in the fishing industry.<\/p>\n

“People have come from many different nations, and they have contributed to the prosperity of our communities \u2014 especially in Port Lincoln with the fishing industry \u2014 and they’re the ones who pioneered the industry,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of people have turned out to support the quirky Port Lincoln Tunarama Festival on South Australia’s Eyre…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":524195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,233040,54766,4084,233038,233041,10501,50,233039,233037],"class_list":["post-524194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-australia","tag-blessing-of-fleet","tag-community-event","tag-festival","tag-kyle-chalmers","tag-lost-at-sea","tag-memorial","tag-news","tag-tuna-toss","tag-tunarama"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115913868491483888","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}