The pioneers found the waters around the colony of Van Dieman's Land to contain species which seemed familiar - the local oyster and mussel were indistinguishable from the British varieties. Two of the convicts on the Calcutta were said to be fishermen and they and others with some experience of boats were pressed into service by Rev. Bobby Knopwood and William Collins to supplement the food of David Collins' party both in Port Phillip and the Derwent. Where species looked familiar they were often given names that tended to improve their cultural acceptability - the Australian "salmon" is the classical example. This familiar seafood together with a strong demand for fresh protein gave commercial fishing a spring board for development. But the nineteenth century Tasmanian market for fish had characteristics that were independent of the availability of fish that severely limited commercial fishing. Unlike the conditions in the countries from which the early Tasmanian fishermen came even the winters were not cold enough to provide natural refrigeration. The absence of either natural supplies of ice or refrigeration meant that

Seals, whales, crayfish and some scale fish particularly trumpeter met those criteria.

The Knopwood attributes the saving of the colony from a food crisis in March 1806 to a "huge haul" of jack mackerel (Trachurus declivis) taken in a seine "opposite his cottage". Crayfish (Jasus nova hollandei) were also a regular target of the fishing parson.

Tasmanian shellfish including oysters were also prominent in the diet of Tasmanian aborigines. When James Kelly called at Port Davey in 1815 he traded swans he had shot for crayfish; the local natives quickly collected 3 tons (at least 1000 fish) from the waters edge.

In 1882 a Royal Commission enquired into Tasmanian fisheries. Robert Johnston systematically surveyed each area of the State and many fishermen were interviewed. As large lobster move about feeding during the day they could be easily caught with the hoop-net, locally known as a cray ring. The catch could be kept alive in wet wells. The Commission estimated that 280 tons of crayfish were landed in Tasmania and additional substantial quantities were taken directly to Victoria.

William Henry Martin described himself as a deep sea fisherman. His vessel was ‘an ordinary open well boat of average size, 33 feet long, 7 feet beam and 2 ft 7inches deep. The present boats are safe only 5 boats have been lost in the past 5 years and 10 men drowned, mainly due to bad handling.’ He didn’t see that decked boats would be an advance. They fished from Wedge Bay to Maria Island down in depths of up to 45 fathoms. Robert Smith told the Commission ‘we get crayfish anywhere but they are not so plentiful as formerly’. Francis rush reported ‘ The average weight of a full grown male is 4lbs., a big fish is 7lbs. The run is smaller now than it used to be; they are much scarcer. This arises from over fishing and catching female fish.’ An average sized fish was worth 2 cents to the fisherman and it was common for them to be used as bait to catch striped trumpeter.

Even at this time a quite a lot was known about Tasmanian crayfish. Males and females were easily distinguished, moulting was known to take place from September to February and the impact of this on catching rates well understood. The industry knew that the soft shelled fish should not be marketed and this occurred from December to February. Many fishermen thought it unwise to catch females whilst they carried eggs externally and a minimum size of 10 inches overall was considered to be desireable.

Some of the fishermen argued that the stocks of crayfish were too heavily fished and the use of pots by Victorian boats was a major factor. The Commission recommended that there be a minimum size of 10 inches for crayfish, a closed season from December to February whilst shells were soft and a prohibition of the taking of females carrying eggs. The most significant outcome of the Commission’s work was the appointment of William Saville-Kent as Inspector of Fisheries and the creation of a Fisheries Department.

Saville-Kent brought from England the very latest thinking in fisheries research and management and enthusiasm to apply them in Tasmania. He followed up the claims made before the Royal Commission and decided that those relating to the decline of crayfish were purely local phenomena. He was a fervent advocate for the introduction of new fishing technology and rejected the claims by some fishermen of the "destructive nature" of crayfish pots. However he strongly supported the introduction of the 10 inch legal minimum size for crayfish and succeeded in having the Act for the Protection of Crayfish approved by Parliament in December 1885. This measure has ensured the protection of crayfish stocks for over 100 years despite intensive pressure in the past 30 years : - the present minimum size is still close to the same overall length. The Act also prohibited the possession or sale of soft shelled crayfish and females carrying eggs.

This Act also introduced an number of compliance measures that have played a major role in ensuring the resource was conserved. It allowed a constable to board and search a vessel, or an establishment selling fish, for illegal fish without a warrant. Further it allowed any illegal fish found to be seized. (In 1910 another Act allowed boats engaged in illegal fishing to be forfeited.)

At the end of the 1880s more than a thousand Tasmanians were directly involved in fishing the majority being based in Hobart. Fishing was concentrated in the area from Bicheno to Port Davey with some small boat operations in the Tamar estuary. There were still only a handful of decked vessels and most fishing was done from 37 ft. centre-board whaleboats with wells in which to keep the catch alive. Striped trumpeter and barracouta were the target of most fishermen and Johnston estimates that 3,396 dozen fish of all types were landed each year. Over 60,000 rock lobster were caught but this fishery was still a minor component of the industry. Fish and crayfish exports to Victoria were an important contributor to the £10,000 annually contributed to the colony's economy from fishing.

When the Fysh Government terminated Saville-Kent's Fisheries Department they administratively appointed a Fisheries Board, to deal with fisheries 'matters other than oysters'. Ten of the twelve men had previously held positions as Salmon Commissioners — the body given responsibility to establish a salmon fishery in Tasmania. That Commission also exercised de fact control over all fisheries before Saville-Kent arrived. Amongst the new members were C S Agnew, Alex Morton (Curator of the Museum), and G P Fitzgerald and Dr Huston both members of the House of Assembly. Later Hugh Kirk, the President of the Hobart Trades and Labour Council and a friend of G P Fitzgerald, was appointed. The decision to effectively return sea fishermen to the rule of these men prompted some criticism from Hobart fishermen such as "Bellerive" in the Tasmanian News "the utter incapacity and the want of common intelligence of fishery questions of the present board who have for so long ruled the Derwent with such an autocratic hand".

On the 28th June 1888 the Chief Secretary wrote to Saville-Kent advising him that the Government had decided to place all fisheries matters under the control and management of a single Fisheries Board and that his services would not be required beyond the end of that year. The Government decided to place all fisheries matters under the control and management of a single Fisheries Board Two months later the Chief Secretary advised the Board that Mr Saville-Kent would terminate his duties at the end of the year and would they assume control of all fisheries including the oyster industry from that time. The new Board of 23 Commissioners would hold "the general superintendence, management, and protection of the Fisheries in The Colony, including Shellfish, Crustaceans, Seals, and other Fish." They retained this role for forty six years.

Although the decision not to renew Saville-Kent's contract rested officially on the desire to reduce expenditure on fisheries the Government continued to provide an annual grant to the Board. However Braddon, now Premier, was determined to reduce overall Government expenditure. In August 1893 his Government voted just over £300 to the Fisheries Department. The Commissioner's budget provided that more than two thirds of the amount was spent on the salaries of the Secretary, the Water Bailiff and Caretaker at the Salmon Ponds. Braddon met with the Commissioners who suggested that they could reduce their expenditure and could get by with a grant of £160 in 1895 providing the Police would take over the responsibility for protecting the fishing in the River Derwent. Over the next three years Government funds disappeared and the Commission had to rely on what it could raise in licence fees.

In 1890 the minimum size was increased to 12 inches.

In Bass Strait there were twenty one boats engaged in the fishery most were powered by sail but there were also some steamers.

Braddon's decision to withdraw financial support from fisheries administration marked the beginning of a half a century in which regulation was seen as the extent of government interest in commercial fishing. The Fisheries Commissioners were diligent in ensuring that trout fishermen paid their licences and this allowed them to continue limited developmental activities, but they had little ability and less interest in doing even that in commercial fishing. The long fight, stretching for almost a quarter of a century, to prevent the use of craypots typifies how fisheries were managed during this time.

The baited hoop net, known as a cray ring, was the traditional Tasmanian method of taking the crustacean. The fisherman would use about a dozen rings and set them from a dinghy. They would be hauled more or less continuously making for very hard work. A hemispherical cane pot, based on that used in Cornwall was used in Victoria and considered to be much more efficient. The management of the crayfishery seemed to occupy most of the limited time the Commissioners spent on sea fisheries and was the subject of no less than three exhaustive enquiries - a study by a sub-committee of the Board and an examination by the Commonwealth Fisheries Commissioner H C Dannevig.

The basis of the debate was a socio-economic difference between the industry in northern Tasmania and Bass Strait and those who lived and fished in the south. A group of Victorian fishermen some who had come from Tasmania had been using pots in Bass Strait and wanted to continue contrary to the wishes of southern fishermen who had rather smaller boats and used ring nets to take crayfish. This divergence of attitude was apparent by 1900 and remained an important feature of industry politics at least until the 1980s.

Early in the twentieth century there were more than enough crayfish to satisfy the demands of the northern fishers but for three months of the year, after moulting, the shells were too soft to survive the passage to Melbourne. Consequently they wanted access to the south east where moulting occurred at a different time.

Crayfish pots were banned on the 21st November 1902 but in February 1904 a Regulation allowed pots (and long nets) north of 39o31' S latitude. In July 1904 the line was moved south to 40o 38' S latitude (about St. Marys).

The Victorian Minister for Agriculture had requested an extension of craypot fishing zone and the Commissioners appointed a Committee chaired by Dr. Noetling and assisted by Commissioners Rush and Gates to study the claim. Their report included the following

The line of demarcation was fixed at latitude 39 degrees 31 minutes in Bass Strait, but this line was altered to 40 degrees 38 minutes south, and crayfish pots were included