Bursary recipient will attend five sessions over the two day conference:
- Fishing with care and precision
- Thriving coastal communities
- Growing market value
- Healthy marine environments
- Modernising fisheries management

Additional conference activities will be attended were possible, including networking functions and FRDC meetings.

Benefits of including the bursary recipient in the Australian delegation to New Zealand include:
- Improvements in trans-tasman industry relationships
- Enhanced learning and sharing on important industry issues (notably electronic monitoring of fleets)
- Relevance and input to group discussion and thinking regarding important session topics and ideas
- Increased understanding of government policy decisions and drivers and other external impacts on fishing industry productivity

In intensive aquaculture systems oxygen supplementation is necessary to prevent hypoxia; however, oversupply can hyper-saturate systems causing gas bubble disease. Oxygenation in aquaculture, fish holding and transport systems using standard technologies is extremely inefficient; standard oxygen transfer efficiencies (SOTE) are estimated at between 2 and 6% per m submergence for coarse and fine bubble diffusers, respectively, at standard conditions of 0 ppt salinity and 20 °C. Advances in the efficiency of gas–liquid phase processes has seen the emergence of nanobubble technologies producing ultrafine bubbles (⌀ 1 µm). The advantage of nanobubbles over larger micro/macrobubbles is that they are neutrally buoyant, negatively charged and can remain within the water column, potentially for weeks. Nanobubble technologies now have a demonstrated application across a broad variety of industries including wastewater treatment, biomedical engineering, gas and oil industry, agriculture, and the food industry. Surprisingly, outside of Japan, there has been little research on the application of nanobubble technology to the aquaculture sector. Nanobubble technology can potentially improve oxygen delivery systems for fish stock and water treatment in aquaculture systems, improving the nitrifying capacity of biofilters and efficiencies in fractionation units. However, there are currently no reliable studies demonstrating the efficacy of nanobubble technology, nor any assessment of the potential health impacts on fish in aquaculture systems. We have undertaken a preliminary pilot trial with encouraging results. Oxygenation was applied to a recirculating aquaculture system via nanobubble injectors for 10 days and fish (yellowtail kingfish) were observed to feed and behave normally when compared to a control group. Before this technology can be considered for broader adoption, a thorough long term investigation needs to be undertaken to assess the long term health effects on fish stock held in nanobubble oxygenated water and the suitability for application of this technology to the aquaculture industry.

There is an information gap regarding understanding the nature and extent of customary fishing activities across Victoria.

An improved understanding of traditional fishing practices will help promote an understanding of customary fishing among commercial and recreational fishing sectors.

A better understanding of traditional fishing practices will inform governement agencies of ways to improve participation by traditional owners in the ongoing management of fisheries across the fishing sectors.

Recording of information will support the knowledge transfer within traditional owner groups (from one generation to the next) and language retention relating to fisheries resources on traditional owner Country.

The need for work in this area is identified in a number of strategic projects, namely:

• as a VicFRAB priority to be considered in the FRDC 2014 competitive funding round.
• as part of the FRDC Indigenous Reference Group 11 Key priorities.
• within the Victorian Aboriginal Fishing Strategy strategic priorities.
• in State-wide and cross jurisdictional initiatives (e.g. DEPI’s Aboriginal Inclusion Plan).
• identified as a knowledge gap in the FRDC Research Audit of Social Sciences Fisheries Research
• in the Department of Environment and Primary Industries Aboriginal Inclusion Plan