Sunday, 17th August Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2025

An initiative of The Fish Collective

Unlock the full potential of BRUVs for your research!

Join us for a full-day immersive workshop designed to advance Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) research and visual imagery methods. Whether you are a seasoned researcher, an early career scientist, or a student eager to integrate BRUVs into your work, this workshop will provide the latest insights, tools, and collaboration opportunities to maximize your impact.

Through a mix of expert presentations, first-hand stories, and two-way sharing, we will explore the latest innovations, best practices, and new frontiers in BRUV research. Learn how to enhance data sharing, standardize methodologies, and leverage cutting-edge AI tools to streamline data processing and analysis.

Key themes will include:
✔️ Expanding BRUV research networks – facilitating regional, national, and global collaboration
✔️ Innovations in BRUV technology – integrating tools like CheckEM for data quality assurance and linking datasets to GlobalArchive
✔️ Best practices and SOPs – standardizing methodologies across BRUVs, ROVs, and underwater landers
✔️ Exploring new ecosystems – incorporating deep-sea, estuarine, and freshwater BRUV data
✔️ Indigenous and community engagement – integrating BRUV into long-term monitoring initiatives
✔️ Maximizing research impact – how BRUV data contributes to global biodiversity assessments, marine management, and conservation efforts

The workshop will also introduce The Fish Collective, a revitalized national BRUV working group, and discuss opportunities to collaborate on a synthesized BRUV dataset that enhances research and conservation efforts across Australia and beyond.

Expect a highly interactive experience, including breakout discussions, case studies, and an exclusive BRUV highlight reel featuring participant-submitted footage from around Australia!

WHEN: Sunday 17 August 2025
TIME: 9am - 4pm
WHERE: Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront, Darwin
COST: $70pp (includes catering)

Advances in acoustic telemetry technology: from raw data processing to analyses

Innovasea and Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Animal Tracking Facility

Join us for an immersive, hands-on workshop designed to strengthen the analytical capabilities of our research community working with acoustic telemetry data.

In the first session, we’ll explore Innovasea’s new range of software including the online data management platform, Fathom Central. This intuitive interface allows researchers to efficiently process raw detection files, visualize receiver diagnostics, and assess broader detection trends. Fathom Central also serves as a collaborative hub, enabling streamlined data sharing between researchers and institutions.

The second half of the workshop will feature an interactive R-based tutorial, where we’ll work through real-world workflows for data processing, analysis, and visualization. Participants are encouraged to bring their own sample datasets (details to follow) for live coding and collaborative troubleshooting. If you don’t have a dataset on hand, sample data will be provided.

Key themes will include:

Data Access – Accessing detection and events data using Fathom Connect and Fathom Mobile
Data Management – Establishing workspaces and studies in Fathom Central, interpreting receiver diagnostics and export of data for post-processing
Data quality control – Identifying and removing false detections from the data
Environmental data processing – Matching acoustic detections with environmental data
Statistical analyses – Generalized Additive Mixed Models
Data visualization – GIS mapping in R

While this workshop will focus on data processing and coding, we expect to provide an interactive experience where we’ll be working together to move from raw data to publication-ready figures–and most importantly, figures that won’t be a nightmare to address those Reviewer 2 comments!

Who should attend?
This workshop is ideal for students, early career researchers, and established scientists who use, or who would like to use, acoustic telemetry in their research. This workshop offers an excellent opportunity to deepen your technical skills, engage with peers, and explore best practices in acoustic telemetry analysis—whether you're refining existing workflows or building them from the ground up.

WHEN: Sunday, 17 August 2025
TIME: Approx. 9 AM – 4 PM
WHERE: Hilton Darwin, Mitchell Street, Darwin
COST: $70 (includes catering)

We are excited to have you join us at the Welcome Reception.

Date: Sunday 17th August
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Crocosaurus Cove
Cost: Included for delegates | Additional Guests $75

Ticket must be selected during registration.

Ticket includes a unique, up close and personal view of Australia’s iconic Saltwater Crocodiles, animal handling and feeding of baby crocs.