Ocean sunfish sampling

Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition	IceFish Conferences

The largest commercial fishing exhibition in the North.	Co-located with the Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition, the IceFish Conferences bring the seafood sector together for three days of insight, innovation and connection.
Visit the IceFish Website	Visit IceFish Conferences

By-Product Solutions	Smart, Connected Seafood Processing	Land-Based Aquaculture Technology	Greener Fishing
January-February 2026	March-April 2025	July-August 2025	November-December 2025

Cutting waste and maximising value	Robotics, analytics software and other Industry 4.0 technologies are helping to scale-up productivity	New production systems are escalating the industry’s contribution to global food security	Fisheries are becoming increasingly responsible and sustainable thanks to new technologies and initiatives
Read More	Read More	Read More	Read More

Researchers at Perth’s Murdoch University have been conducting a biopsy sampling programme on ocean sunfish for the past 12 months.

Steve Hall biopsy sampling a ‘Short Sunfish’ or ‘Southern Sunfish’ (Mola ramsayi) caught and released. Credit: AFMA

The programme, led by Prof Neil Loneragan and PhD candidate Marianne Nyegaard, has seen Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) Tuna and Billfish Longline Fisheries Observers travelling from northern Queensland to southern New South Wales, taking tissue samples from sunfish. They catch the fish with a line and then use a 3m long pole mounted with biopsy heads. Once the sample has been taken, the fish are released alive. This is not an easy feat considering that the average adult can weigh more than 1,000kg.

“Their thick skin is tough and leathery, with a several centimetres of connective tissue underneath,” Ms Nyegaard said. “Judging by how many sunfish swim around with healed-up propeller scars and shark-bite-sized bits missing, the shallow biopsies pose little threat to their overall health.”

The study has been focusing on genetic population connectivity between Indonesian and Australian sunfish and looks at the relationship between sunfish caught on the east and west coasts of Australia.

“The observers have been absolutely fantastic and their hard work has really paid off” Ms Nyegaard said. “The support and patience of the longline skippers and crew have been a crucial aspect to the success of the project, and I am very thankful for their cooperation.”

Ms Nyegaard has just completed the first stage of the genetic analysis, and is excited about the preliminary results that have enabled the better identification of sunfish species interacting with Australian Fisheries.

Ocean sunfish are caught as bycatch in the longline fishery for tuna and billfish across Australia and New Zealand, and are released alive. They can grow to impressive sizes, with one individual found off New South Wales in 1907 measuring 3.1m. The sunfish caught in the longline fishery are, however, typically much smaller.

The biopsy sampling project was actively supported by the AFMA Observer Program, as sunfish are one of seven bycatch species listed as potentially being ‘at risk’ in AFMA fisheries because there is so little known about them.