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Research article2021Peer reviewedOpen access

Life in a drop: Sampling environmental DNA for marine fishery management and ecosystem monitoring

Gilbey, John; Carvalho, Gary; Castilho, Rita; Coscia, Ilaria; Coulson, Mark W.; Dahle, Geir; Derycke, Sofie; Francisco, Sara M.; Helyar, Sarah J.; Johansen, Torild; Junge, Claudia; Layton, Kara K. S.; Martinsohn, Jann; Matejusova, Iveta; Robalo, Joana I.; Rodriguez-Ezpeleta, Naiara; Silva, Goncalo; Strammer, Ilona; Vasemagi, Anti; Volckaert, Filip A. M.

Abstract

Science-based management of marine fisheries and effective ecosystem monitoring both require the analysis of large amounts of often complex and difficult to collect information. Legislation also increasingly requires the attainment of good environmental status, which again demands collection of data to enable efficient monitoring and management of biodiversity. Such data is traditionally obtained as a result of research surveys through the capture and/or visual identification of organisms. Recent years have seen significant advances in the utilisation of environmental DNA (eDNA) in the marine environment in order to develop alternative cost-effective ways to gather relevant data. Such approaches attempt to identify and/or quantify the species present at a location through the detection of extra-organismal DNA in the environment. These new eDNA based approaches have the potential to revolutionise data collection in the marine environment using non-invasive sampling methods and providing snapshots of biodiversity beyond the capacity of traditional sampling. Here we present a non-technical summary of different approaches in the field of eDNA, and emphasise the broad application of this approach, with value for the governance and management of marine aquatic ecosystems. The review focuses on identifying those tools which are now readily applicable and those which show promise but are currently in development and require further validations. The aim is to provide an understanding of techniques and concepts that can be used by managers without genetic or genomic expertise when consulting with specialists to perform joint evaluations of the utility of the approaches.

Keywords

Environmental DNA; EDNA; Management; Ecosystem; Fisheries

Published in

Marine Policy
2021, Volume: 124, article number: 104331

    Sustainable Development Goals

    Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Genetics
    Ecology
    Zoology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104331

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/109859