Gene-associated markers provide tools for tackling illegal fishing and false eco-certification

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing has had a major role in the overexploitation of global fish populations. In response, international regulations have been imposed and many fisheries have been 'eco-certified' by consumer organizations, but methods for independent control of catch certificates and eco-labels are urgently needed. Here we show that, by using gene-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms, individual marine fish can be assigned back to population of origin with unprecedented high levels of precision. By applying high differentiation single nucleotide polymorphism assays, in four commercial marine fish, on a pan-European scale, we find 93-100% of individuals could be correctly assigned to origin in policy-driven case studies. We show how case-targeted single nucleotide polymorphism assays can be created and forensically validated, using a centrally maintained and publicly available database. Our results demonstrate how application of gene-associated markers will likely revolutionize origin assignment and become highly valuable tools for fighting illegal fishing and mislabelling worldwide.

Rob Ogden | Antonella Zanzi | Ilaria Guarniero | Alessia Cariani | Alexander Volkov | Corrado Piccinetti | Gary R Carvalho | Ross McEwing | Frank Panitz | Christian Bendixen | Barbara Cardazzo | Tomaso Patarnello | Einar E Nielsen | Eoin Mac Aoidh | Gregory E Maes | Ilaria Milano | Martin Taylor | Jakob Hemmer-Hansen | Massimiliano Babbucci | Luca Bargelloni | Dorte Bekkevold | Eveline Diopere | Leonie Grenfell | Sarah Helyar | Morten T Limborg | Jann T Martinsohn | Fausto Tinti | Jeroen K J Van Houdt | Filip A M Volckaert | Robin S Waples | Jan E J Albin | Juan M Vieites Baptista | Vladimir Barmintsev | José M Bautista | Jean-Pascal Bergé | Dietmar Blohm | Amalia Diez | Montserrat Espiñeira | Audrey J Geffen | Elena Gonzalez | Nerea González-Lavín | Marc Jeráme | Marc Kochzius | Grigorius Krey | Olivier Mouchel | Enrico Negrisolo | Antonio Puyet | Sergey Rastorguev | Jane P Smith | Massimo Trentini | Véronique Verrez-Bagnis | J. Hemmer-Hansen | E. Nielsen | M. Limborg | D. Bekkevold | C. Piccinetti | E. González | C. Bendixen | F. Panitz | L. Bargelloni | T. Patarnello | G. Carvalho | O. Mouchel | G. Maes | S. Helyar | R. Ogden | A. Cariani | E. Diopere | D. Blohm | R. Waples | B. Cardazzo | M. Babbucci | F. Volckaert | V. Verrez-Bagnis | M. Espiñeira | I. Guarniero | I. Milano | A. Geffen | F. Tinti | E. Mac Aoidh | J. Martinsohn | J. Bautista | E. Negrisolo | S. Rastorguev | J. Bergé | A. Puyet | R. Mcewing | M. Kochzius | J. Van Houdt | A. Zanzi | M. Trentini | Leonie R. Grenfell | A. Diez | V. Barmintsev | M. Taylor | A. Volkov | N. González‐Lavín | Jan E. J. Juan M. Vladimir José M. Christian Jean-Pasc Albin Vieites Baptista Barmintsev Bautista Be | Jan E. J. Albin | Marc Jeráme | Grigorius Krey | Jane P. Smith | E. M. Aoidh | E. Gonzalez | Jakob Hemmer-Hansen | Eveline Diopere

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