She’s one of only a handful of young female anglers in her area and wants to make a living out of it one day, Emma told 9news.com.au.

“I didn’t have any help at all, I had to do it all myself for it to be a record,” she said proudly.

“After we caught the fish, we headed back into Port Macdonnell and got a professional to come and weigh the fish, we had to wait a few months while it got sent to America.

“We knew it was going to be a record.”

Weighing in at 125.4kg, the southern bluefin tuna is the biggest catch of its kind in South Australia, Australia and the entire world – making it a remarkable triple victory.

She won the junior angler record for all three, awarded by the International Game Fish Association.

Emma said she’d spent her childhood fishing with her family and was passionate about getting girls into angling.

“Growing up, I didn’t have many girlfriends that went fishing,” she said. 

“It was mainly just boys and people my dad knew.”

Dad Tony said he was “incredibly proud” of his daughter for getting her hands dirty in a male-dominated industry.

“Emma’s a very active teenage girl, she’s doing very well,” he said.

Fishing isn’t just a hobby for the teenage world record holder.

Emma said she had her sights on a career as an angler.

If that doesn’t work out, she’s keen on pursuing AFL or becoming a marine biologist.

As for what the Spiteri family did with their huge fish bounty, Tony said it tasted “beautiful”.

“We preserved it in jars, and it comes out better than the canned tuna that you buy from the supermarket,” he said.