The First Australasian Scallop Workshop was held in Taroona, Tasmania in July 1988 and was attended by 51 participants from Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

It proved to be a very valuable forum for exchange of ideas on scallop biology, management and culture. The organisers of that workshop, Mike Dredge, Will Zacharin and Lindsay loll, along with Richard McLoughlin must be thanked again for taking the initiative in organising the second Australasian Scallop Workshop at the East Coaster Resort, Triabunna, Tasmania, 23-25 March 1993.

Support for the second Australasian Workshop has been provided by the Fishing Industry Research and Development Corporation, the Commonwealth Department of lndustry Technology Employment and Commerce, state departments responsible for fisheries in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, and the CSIRO Division of Fisheries. Thanks for this support are extended to each of those bodies, in the context of both the workshop and publication of the proceedings.

Scallop resources are notoriously difficult to manage because of wide fluctuations in recruitment and problems with harvesting technology; this emphasises the need for workshops of this nature to obtain maximum benefit from dissemination of knowledge and experience in scallop biology and management.

Recently we have seen progress towards more rational management of scallop resources in this part of the world and for the first time in southeastern Australia there appears to be a cooperative and constructive approach to scallop fishery management. While scallop stocks in Victoria and Tasmania have been in decline in recent years, the saucer scallop fisheries in Western Australia and Queensland have stabilised or are expanding. The background to such variation, and of the associated problems of recruitment variability in scallops from W.A. to Tasmania are discussed in some detail.

It is pleasing to note also that an appropriate time allocation has been made towards considering the impact of our scallop harvesting technology, both on the scallops themselves and on the environment which sustains them. It is clear that the industry cannot afford to continue using inefficient and destructive fishing gear if better technology is available.

The workshop was perfectly placed in Triabunna to explore recent progress in scallop culture and reseeding. Free exchange of ideas on methodology and technology relating to these activities shows promise that scallop enhancement may achieve its full potential in the coming years. The enhancement project in Tasmania has been operating since 1987 and all types of difficulties from appropriate gear to aspects of marketing are still being researched by the company.

This workshop provided an opportunity for biologists, managers, marine farmers, fishers and others with an interest in scallops to expand their understanding of scallops and pass on some of their hard earned knowledge and experience to others.

The make-up of this workshop is unusual, to say the least, in that organisers have brought together so many facets of industry and have recognised the importance of marketing to the scallop fisheries.

Finally, some public health issues associated with scallop fisheries around the world have been brought to the workshop's attention. Such issues, largely associated with dinoflagellate-derived toxins, have not been a major issue in Australia to this time. Their significance in an international context, and their potential to affect scallop marketing and fisheries in Australia, is a major consideration for the future.