After getting back to land, Gazzola said he contacted Fishing Tasmania and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and was told the tagged fish was the "longest fish at liberty in Australian history".
"I was looking at it while they were cutting up the meat. I cut the tag out to have a look at it and after that it was something unbelievable," he told 9News Melbourne.
He was told the fish was first tagged off the coast of Western Australia nearly 30 years ago.