Stakeholder Workshop on the Value of Genetic and Genomic Tools for identifying species in mixed landings, fish products and by-products (WKGenoTools)

Fisheries management, but also the implementation of rules along the supply chain, rely largely on the identification of fish species and their geographical origin, including in processed products. Examples of cases where such identification is required include the management of mixed fisheries, the identification of stocks and stock boundaries and responding to requirements to reduce discarding.

A stakeholder workshop on the value of genetic and genomic tools for identifying species inmixed landings, fish products and by-products (WKGenoTools), co-organized by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Norway, brought together policy-makers and scientists to clarify further the most pressing needs in the field and how to best enable successful technology and knowledge transfer.

Following the workshop presentations and discussion among workshop participants, two case studies were selected to be presented in the 2020 report of the ICES Working Group on Application of Genetics in Fisheries and Aquaculture (WGAGFA): one about the DNA-based identification of species at sea and during landing, the other about DNA-based methodology to identify and quantify species present in fish silage.

The first case study addresses the problem to identify directly, on board or at port, fish species that are not easily identifiable by visual inspection. Several portable solutions, which can facilitate species barcoding on board fishing vessels or at port, have been developed in recent years.

The second case study is motivated by the possibility, under the EU Landing Obligation, to use fish that is not commercially viable to land as whole fish to produce fish silage directly on board. However, the fish used for silage should still be counted against allocated quota. Control measures based on visual inspection of content are not possible once the fish have been digested by acid in the silage tanks and also the sampling of a single individual is not always feasible. DNA-based methods present one promising solution to identify and quantify species present in fish silage.