No more fish flinging as famed tuna toss is canned

Would-be tuna tossers have flung their last fish.

The famed Tunarama Festival, which has been held at Port Lincoln in South Australia for 60 years, along with its renowned tuna tossing competition, has been canned.

Organisers have announced that this year's festival in January was the last, with plans to wind up their operations.

But fish-throwing aspirants need not totally despair, because the local council has bought the rights to the event, along with the fish-tossing equipment, with a view to perhaps bringing it back in the future.

Port Lincoln Mayor Diana Mislov said the event was synonymous with the town after decades celebrating its fishing industry heritage.

"There are not too many people that think of Port Lincoln and do not think Tunarama or tuna toss," she said.

"It is known far and wide, and as far as iconic South Australian events go, Tunarama is up there on the list."

While the festival dates back to 1963, the famed tuna toss, considered the world championship of fish throwing, was first held in 1980.

It had its genesis in the long-practised method of unloading overflowing tuna boats at the Port Lincoln docks, when fish would be flung on to waiting trucks.

In search of a job, locals would line up to throw a tuna as far as they could, with the best awarded a day's work.

The tossing competition quickly became the highlight of the Tunarama Festival, with people coming from far and wide to have a crack at launching a frozen fish across the foreshore.

The real version was later replaced by a 10kg rubber replica.

The men's record has stood since 1998 when Commonwealth Games hammer-throw gold medallist Sean Carlin stunned with a 37.23-metre toss.

The women's record stands at 21.25 metres, set by another Commonwealth Games hammer-throw champion, Brooke Krueger.

Aside from the tuna toss, the Tunarama Festival has also included other quirky competitions, including prawn peeling, watermelon eating, and a slippery pole challenge.

The festival was thought to have attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and provided a significant boost to the town's economy.

Tunarama president Sharon Humenick said the organising committee was proud of its work.

But she said the event had been disrupted in recent years by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors.

"It is time for the event as we know it to end," Ms Humenick said.

Port Lincoln chief executive Matthew Morgan said in acquiring the trademarks, branding and intellectual property, the council would safeguard the essence of the festival.

"At some stage in the future, we're sure that there will be a discussion about how this makes a resurgence," he said.