Source: In-Stream, November 2013, pages 4–7. Author: Leo O’Reilly.  View original scan (PDF)

The 2013 National Convention was held in Melbourne on 12–13 October 2013 at the Ciloms Airport Hotel. As with all conventions, a major benefit was catching up with old friends and making new friends. The quality of the speakers was an added bonus.

The Friday evening began with an AGM. This saw the old committee stand down and a new committee elected. Significantly, the immediate past president (Leo O’Reilly), the immediate past vice president (Glenn Briggs), and the immediate past treasurer (Tony Tucceri) did not seek re-election.

The new ANGFA National committee consists of: President: Ian Baddock (NSW); Vice Pres: Michael Jones (ACT); Secretary: Gerard Carmody; Treasurer: John Lenagan.

The new president assumed his role and thanked the outgoing committee for their hard work. After the AGM many members retreated to the bar where the reunions continued until the early hours of the morning.

Saturday began with a bang. Steve Baines was the MC for the event and did a fabulous job of keeping the audience entertained (with numerous digs at Victorians). Steve wore a suit for his role, along with a fish tie. Those who were astute noticed that the tie changed during every break.

The first speaker was comedian Graeme Bowman who masqueraded as an American Professor. It took me 15 minutes to ascertain that he was in fact a comedian and not an authoritative speaker. His near evangelical preaching and his discussion of low hanging fruit during a sauna session had us in fits of laughter.

Glenn Briggs showed us some fabulous images of Mogurnda mogurnda (Northern Crimson-Spotted Gudgeon) that he has collected in the wet tropics, and discussed the variety in both their markings and their behaviour. We appreciated his dedication given the number of leeches that he acquired in his explorations.

Phil Littlejohn showed us a large number of images taken through a microscope, and discussed the range of microscopic creatures that live in our ponds and puddles. It was fascinating to see what some of our live food items look like.

Peter Unmack gave us a detailed explanation of his genetic testing of Australian and New Guinea fish, and the relationship between various species. This was an update of the presentation that he gave at an ANGFA Queensland meeting over a year ago.

Steve Baines — Trade Table

Mike Hammer had us mesmerised with stories of his explorations and his findings in the Northern Territory. I was jealous watching the number of fabulous fishing spots he had flown into by helicopter.

Doug McColl finished the afternoon’s presentations with a discussion on the fish preservation group. This group concentrates on maintaining genetic lines of the rarer and endangered species from New Guinea. It will also keep records of people breeding threatened and endangered species of Australian fish.

Following on from the Queensland convention when we changed the auction from Saturday night to Sunday night, Victoria decided to hold the auction on Saturday afternoon. I thought this worked well as it gave us the opportunity to relax over dinner. There was a fabulous variety of fish, including most of the New Guinea species that we never see at auctions in Queensland. Steve Baines and Andy Wattam did an excellent job as auctioneers.

In the evening we had a buffet dinner and after dinner Heiko Bleher entertained us with his descriptions of the habitats of fishes on many continents and his discussion on creating biotype displays to reflect the conditions they were caught in.

Sunday was another flurry of presentations. The first presenter was Adam Kerezsy who spoke about Edgbaston Station and the Red-finned Blue-eye (Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis). He is very keen to establish a captive breeding program and to discuss how ANGFA might get involved with the work at Edgbaston.

Ian Morris spoke about “The Legacy of Lake Carpentaria” which related to the period when Australia and New Guinea were joined and there was a large lake where the Gulf of Carpentaria now exists. It was a good explanation of why certain fish are located where they are, and why some are common between Australia and New Guinea (e.g. Iriatherina werneri and Pseudomugil gertrudae). This was complimented by John Sinclair who spoke about his efforts as a conservationist, and his input in preserving various environments.

Peter Unmack — Display Tanks

Brian Andrews gave an excellent presentation on his husbandry practices for the commercial production of Australian and New Guinea rainbowfishes at different production sites. This was an updated version of a talk we have received in Queensland on a previous occasion covering the breeding, hatching and growing of Australian and New Guinea rainbowfishes.

Nick Romanowski followed on from Phil Littlejohn the previous day, when he spoke about nanotanks for aquatic invertebrates and other small animals. It was another fascinating insight into the world of microscopic creatures.

Mike Hammer spoke for a second time, on the “Hindenburg Wall Biodiversity Expedition” conducted in PNG in 2013. It was fascinating to see the range of creatures (including fish) that were found on this expedition.

The final speaker for the event was Heiko Bleher who gave updates on the Aru Archipelago and Misool Island. It was fascinating as always to see the range of environments he has explored, and some of the fantastic fishes he had found. Of particular note was a brightly coloured red rainbow (Melanotaenia sneideri) from the Kumawa Mountains at the southern extremity of the Bomberai Peninsula of West Papua. Even though the image was taken through a plastic bag, the fish was stunning.

There was plenty to do between talks, with six large display tanks and a number of nanotanks. These featured a number of different species of fish and invertebrates from the Victorian region. There was also a large trade table containing aquarium products, plants, and books.

The ANGFA Victoria committee is to be congratulated with organising an excellent event. The next convention will be held in Sydney in October 2015, and Queensland is due to host the 2017 convention.