FISHTANK

$10K+ IN CASH AND PRIZES TO BE WON!

Fishing for great ideas to help the ocean from the bright young minds in

our community to inspire the next generation of ocean innovators.

Welcome to the FishTank Competition—an exciting Ocean Lovers initiative that empowers students to become future leaders in ocean conservation!

Open to primary and secondary students across NSW, this competition challenges young minds to create innovative solutions for protecting our oceans. By engaging with real-world environmental issues, students will have the chance to showcase their creativity, pitch their ideas, and make a tangible difference.

The competition aligns with the NSW Department of Education curriculum, supporting key areas like STEM, sustainability, and leadership development, fostering creative problem-solving, critical thinking, and environmental stewardship—making it a valuable addition to your school’s teaching plans.

With generous prizes, the opportunity to present to a live audience, and exposure through the Ocean Lovers Festival in 2026, this is the perfect platform to inspire your students to turn their passion for the ocean into action and create waves of change.

Sign up your school today and be part of the movement for a healthier, more sustainable planet!

SECONDARY SCHOOL PRIZES

$5,000 - Yrs 10 – 12 Prize winner

$3,000 - Yrs 7 – 9 Prize winner

$2,000 - People’s Choice Prize winner

REGISTER NOW

GUIDELINES

PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIZES

$200 - Yrs 3 – 4 Prize winner

$200 - Yrs 5 – 6 Prize winner

$100 - People’s Choice Prize Winner

REGISTER NOW

GUIDELINES

FISHTANK 2025 AWARD PRESENTATION

WHEN: 12.45pm - 1.15pm Sunday, March 23

WHERE: Sunshine Stage, Bondi Beach

The 2025 FishTank presentation was hosted live at the Ocean Lovers Festival by youth change-maker, educator and councillor, Kal Glanznig and Miss Earth 2024 Jessica Lane.

2025 WINNERS

2025 FINALISTS

TideTone

Tekiyah C
Rose Bay Secondary School – Year 12

At current rates plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050. There is an estimated 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste currently in our oceans, with a further 33 billion pounds of plastic entering the marine environment every single year. On a daily basis, 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into our waterways.

These plastic take different forms, with commonly found plastics include cigarette buffs, food wrappers, beverage bottles, straws, cups and plates, bottle caps, and single-use bags. Just think about all the plastic items you use daily: the toothbrush you grab first thing in the morning, the container your lunch comes in, or the bottle you drink water from after your workout. All these things get used and, eventually, thrown out.

These are used and discarded quickly. If this waste isn’t properly disposed of or managed, it can end up in the ocean. There are many people who disregard the impact of plastic on marine life and the health of our marine ecosystem, but the impacts are very real.

Most importantly, it is our responsibility to clean up this mess, but it can't be done just by reusing, recycling, and reducing the amount of plastic in our oceans. It has to be done by physically cleaning and painstakingly removing the plastic from the ocean, with successful iterations such as the Ocean cleanup having a major positive impact on this problem.

But here begs the question: what can we do with this removed Ocean plastic?
Well, one can burn it, one can landfill it, or one can consume it (a study found microplastics have been ingested via marine life consumption).

This is where my idea comes into play, taking these plastics and creating a brand of musical instruments – TideTone Guitars.

My idea will take these oceans plastics, and with the help of industrially removing the pollutants and harmful bacteria, compress the shredded HDPE (most common type of Ocean plastic) into dense blocks, then utilise automated machinery like CNC or by hand and create fully functional electric guitars.

By repurposing these plastics instead of chucking them away in landfill, we can slowly reduce the amount of plastics in the ocean, we and help reconfigure the homeostasis of our amazing world.

Not only can we supply these instruments to musicians locally and globally, but by making more affordable and cheaper variations we can target and supply schools and education centres, attaching the creative and happy association of music to help educate the future generations on what is the right way to repurpose plastic, and the importance of recycling.

By partnering with major ocean cleanup corporations like 4Ocean and The Ocean Cleanup, we can continue the stream of manufacturing these goods, expanding our business by purchasing industrial cleaners and shredders – mass producing these instruments and then using those profits to fund future business ideas and research into repurposing plastic.

Fuelled by my own love for music and love for the environment, TideTone guitars is an innovation providing a solution to one of the most demanding problems of the 21st century, cleaning the lifelines of our planet one note at a time.

Dissolvable Fish Hook

Dallas P-J
Rose Bay Secondary College – Year 7

The critically endangered Grey Nurse Sharks live only 1km from my home and school in Bondi Beach.

Grey Nurse Sharks are not harmful to humans and are often called ‘Labrador’s of the sea’. They are beautiful creatures and need our help because they are critically endangered.

Grey Nurse Shark numbers are decreasing and one factor contributing to their decline is the accidental ingestion of fish hooks.

Fish hooks get accidentally eaten by Grey Nurse Sharks when they are hunting for food. When the fishing line is cut off by the person fishing and the shark swims away, the hook is still inside their body doing internal damage.

If I can invent a dissolvable fish hook, it would help the survivabity of many Grey Nurse Sharks. A dissolvable fish hook would also help up to 30 other endangered marine species that are caught accidentally on fishing lines in NSW.

FISHTANK

$10K+ IN CASH AND PRIZES TO BE WON!

FISHTANK 2025 AWARD PRESENTATION

2025 WINNERS

JUNIOR CATEGORY WINNER! Microplastic Filtration Pontoon

2025 FINALISTS

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