The Australian Society for Fish Biology (ASFB) is a professional organisation of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

researchers. Founded in 1971, the society describes itself as a "professional, independent, non-profit, non-commercial and non-aligned organisation.""About"
, Australian Society for Fish Biology, official website. Accessed 13 November 2016. The Australian Society for Fish Biology holds annual conferences for its members, sometimes in partnership with related organisations such as the Oceania Chondrichthyan SocietyRhiannon Shine (2016
"Sharks smarter than we think, have great awareness of surroundings, experts say"
''ABC News'', 5 September 2016. Accessed 13 November 2016. and the Australian Society for Limnology."New research suggest freshwater prawns is crucial to Northern Territory’s plans to develop food bowl of Asia"
''The Weekly Times'', 1 July 2014. Accessed 13 November 2016. Former presidents of the society include Hamar Midgley (1977–79), Gerry Allen (1979–81), Julian Pepperell (1991–93) and Bronwyn Gillanders (2012–13)."Past ASFB Presidents"
ASFB official website, archived 28 February 2014. Accessed 3 March 2017.

History

The Australian Society for Fish Biology was founded in mid-1971, with the stated aims to "promote the study of fish and fisheries in Australia, and to provide a communications medium for Australian fish workers". The society had a founding membership of 79 fisheries researchers and managers from

eastern Australia The eastern states of Australia are the states adjoining the east continental coastline of Australia. These are the mainland states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and the island state of Tasmania. The Australian Capital Territory ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

.Kevin Rowling (2014) "40 Annual Conferences for ASFB", Australian Society for Fish Biology newsletter (December 2014), p22. Membership fees were initially $2 per year, but this was scaled back to $1 in 1973, as the society's income in its first two years ($246) far exceeded expenditure ($15). The Australian Society for Fish Biology held its first conference in 1974, in

Tewantin, Queensland Tewantin ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tewantin had a population of 10,920 people. Tewantin was the original settlement in the Noosa region and is one of its three major centres today. Hi ...

, in partnership with the Australian Society for Limnology and the Australian Marine Sciences Association. Since then, the annual conference has been held in all major Australian states and territories, as well as New Zealand in 2003 and 2013. In 2000, the society had 535 members from 17 countries. As of July 2019, the society had 438 members, with more than a third of these students.

Conferences

John Morrongiello opens 2018 Australian Society for Fish Biology conference in Melbourne

Conferences have been held annually in Australia or New Zealand since 1974, sometimes in partnership with related organisations such as the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society and the Australian Society for Limnology. In 1974, the first ASFB conference was held in

. This location was chosen due to its close proximity to the estuarine system of the Noosa Lakes, which aligned with the meeting's estuarine theme. In 1975, the 2nd ASFB conference was held at the NSW Brackish Water Fish Culture Research Station at

Port Stephens, New South Wales Port Stephens Council (also known simply as Port Stephens) is a local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is just north of Newcastle and is adjacent to the Pacific Highway which runs through Raymond ...

, and was attended over two days by 60 members. This conference generated a profit of $200. The 3rd ASFB conference was held in

Lakes Entrance, Victoria Lakes Entrance is a seaside resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Ent ...

over the weekend of 18–19 September 1976, although some presentations on the Saturday afternoon were poorly attended due to the 1976 VFL Grand Final. The ASFB conference first took place in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, at Westside Hotel in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, in 1982. In 1986, Darwin hosted the first ASFB conference in the Northern Territory, chaired by John Glaister and attended by 160 members. For the first time, concurrent sessions were introduced to cope with the increasing number of conference presentations. The conference dinner took place at the sailing club on Fannie Bay, with the

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Western culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock char ...

theme "Come as your Taxon". The first South Australian conference was held the following year, at

Victor Harbor, South Australia Victor Harbor is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located within the City of Victor Harbor on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about south of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide. The town is the large ...

. The 1989 conference, held on Magnetic Island, Queensland, was almost cancelled due to a pilots' dispute that grounded all domestic commercial airlines. Many delegates flew to Townsville aboard a RAAF Hercules troop carrier aircraft that had been put into temporary service by the Government. Other delegates drove the thousands of kilometres to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

from their home cities. In total, 105 of the 140 registered delegates made it to the conference, "demonstrat ngASFB members’ determination to confer about fish at all costs." The first

Western Australian Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

conference took place in 1993, at the Sorrento Quay Function Centre. The 1996 conference in Brisbane was subsumed by the 2nd World Fisheries Congress, which was hosted by ASFB and included 950 delegates from 66 countries at the

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is a convention centre in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in South Brisbane and occupies most of the block formed by Grey Street, Melbourne Street, Merivale Street, and Glenelg Street. The centr ...

. In 2003, the conference was held for the first time in New Zealand, hosted by

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. The ASFB conference mascot is a

stuffed toy A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...

called "The Duck", which appears annually at the conference dinner, from at least as early as 2004. Alongside their 2018 conference in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the ASFB held an online public vote, in collaboration with ''Lateral'' magazine, to decide "Australia's favourite fish". The competition received nearly 1,200 votes, with the

leafy seadragon The leafy seadragon (''Phycodurus eques'') or Glauert's seadragon, is the only member of the genus ''Phycodurus'' and is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses. It is found along the sou ...

(''Phycodurus eques'') named Australia's favourite species, with 132 votes. List of ASFB annual conferences: Since 1985, many conferences have been accompanied by workshops on specific topics. The society also hosts four committees that meet annually, usually at the conferences: the Alien Fishes Committee, Education Committee, Fisheries Management Committee, and Threatened Fishes Committee. The Australian Society for Fish Biology is a founding member of the World Council of Fisheries Societies. It hosted the 1996 World Fisheries Congress in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and the 2021 World Fisheries Congress (based in Adelaide but held as a

virtual event Virtual may refer to: * Virtual (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse * Virtual channel, a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel (or range of frequencies) on which the signal travels * Virtual function, a programming ...

Threatened Fishes Committee

A_Lake_Eacham_Rainbowfish,_Melanotaenia_eachamensis,_in_an_aquarium

History of the committee

In 1985, the Australian Society for Fish Biology held a two-day conference workshop in

to discuss Australia's threatened fishes.J.J.Pogonoski, D.A. Pollard and J.R. Paxton (2002
Conservation overview and action plan for Australian threatened and potentially threatened marine and estuarine fishes"
NSW Fisheries Research Institute and the Australian Museum. Retrieved 16 May 2017. The attendees developed a set of

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

categories and criteria, and listed 59 species in total. A Threatened Species Committee was established two years later, at the 1987 conference; the first threatened fishes list was published that same year.R. Wager and P. Jackson (1993
The Action Plan for Australian freshwater fishes
Appendix 3. Environment Australia, June 1993. Retrieved 16 May 2017. Since 1988, these conservation listings have been updated annually."Committees"
ASFB official website. Archived 15 May 2017. In 1991, members of the society endorsed a formal nomination process for listing or delisting species. Since 1997, the committee have assessed species against criteria used by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN). The committee includes scientific representatives from all Australian states and territories.

Species classifications

In the 1985–89 listings, species were classified as one of the following: *

Extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

* Vulnerable * Potentially threatened * Indeterminate * Restricted * Uncertain status These classifications have been used by the IUCN to inform their own

Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

, and by Environment Australia to develop their "Action Plan for Australian freshwater fishes." In August 2019, the ASFB's national threatened species list contained 61 freshwater fish species, compared to 38 listed under the Australian Government's ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

.''

The ASFB publishes a newsletter twice annually. In 2017, the newsletter was renamed ''Lateral Lines'' following an online competition; the winning name was contributed by former President Chris Fulton.

Awards

In 1976, the society introduced the first of several conference awards: the

Gilbert P. Whitley Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years. He was born at Swaythling, Southampton, England, a ...

Memorial Student Award was given for the best paper presented by a student. The winning student, C.M. MacDonald, received a prize of $50. As of 2017, this prize is sponsored by the

Fisheries Research and Development Corporation The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) is a statutory corporation that manages research and development investment by the Australian Government and the Australian fishing and aquaculture commercial, recreational and Indigeno ...

and is worth $600 in both the 'junior' and 'senior' student categories."Gilbert P. Whitley Memorial Student Award"
ASFB official website. Archived on 4 June 2017. The society also awards the John Glover Travel Fund, which was introduced in 1983 as the Student Travel Award, to fund students to attend the conference; and the John Lake Poster Awards, which debuted in 1987. In 1986, the society instigated the humorous Donald D. Francois award to celebrate "an outstanding contribution to fish biology"; the winner received a dozen bottles of

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...

from Francois' winery in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

K. Radway Allen Award

The K. Radway Allen Award is awarded by the society "for an outstanding contribution in fish or fisheries science.""K. Radway Allen Award"
Australian Society for Fish Biology, official website. Accessed 15 January 2016. The award, which may be given annually, is intended to celebrate research conducted primarily in Australia, although not necessarily by a member of the society. The award is named in honour of fisheries biologist Kenneth Radway Allen. Fish biologist David Bellwood presents at the 2016 ASFB-OCS joint conference

Fish biologist David Bellwood presents at the 2016 ASFB-OCS joint conference

Bronwyn Gillanders presenting gender equity forum at 2016 ASFB-OCS conference

Presidents

Presidents of the ASFB generally serve two-year terms. Former presidents of the society include Hamar Midgley (1977–79), Gerry Allen (1979–81), Julian Pepperell (1991–93) and Bronwyn Gillanders (2012–13). List of ASFB Presidents

Gallery

File:Retired fisheries scientist Richard Tilzey at the 2017 Australian Society for Fish Biology conference in Albany, Western Australia.jpg, Richard Tilzey, ASFB President from 1981 to 1983. File:Fisheries scientist Gary Jackson at 2017 ASFB conference.jpg, Gary Jackson, ASFB President from 2013 to 2015. File:Fish biologist Christopher J. Fulton at the 2016 ASFB-OCS joint conference.jpg, Chris Fulton, ASFB President from 2015 to 2017.

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Professional associations based in Australia Biology societies Ecology organizations Scientific societies based in Australia Organizations established in 1971 1971 establishments in Australia