Evaluating genetic traceability methods for captive-bred marine fish and their applications in fisheries management and wildlife forensics
Growing demands for marine fish products is leading to increased pressure on already
depleted wild populations and a rise in aquaculture production. Consequently, more captive-bred fish
are released into the wild through accidental escape or deliberate releases. The increased mixing of
captive-bred and wild fish may affect the ecological and/or genetic integrity of wild fish populations.
Unambiguous identification tools for captive-bred fish will be highly valuable to manage risks
(fisheries management) and tracing of escapees and seafood products (wildlife forensics). Using single
nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from captive-bred and wild populations of Atlantic cod Gadus
morhua L. and sole Solea solea L., we explored the efficiency of population and parentage assignment
techniques for the identification and tracing of captive-bred fish. Simulated and empirical data were
used to correct for stochastic genetic effects. Overall, parentage assignment performed well when a
large effective population size characterized the broodstock and escapees originated from early generations
of captive breeding. Consequently, parentage assignments are particularly useful from a fisheries
management perspective to monitor the effects of deliberate releases of captive-bred fish on wild
populations. Population assignment proved to be more efficient after several generations of captive
breeding, which makes it a useful method in forensic applications for well-established aquaculture
species. We suggest the implementation of a case-by-case strategy when choosing the best method.
BYLEMANS Jonas;
MAES Gregory;
CARIANI Alessia;
BARGELLONI Luca;
CARVALHO Gary R.;
NIELSEN Einar Eg;
TINTI Fausto;
VOLCKAERT Filip;
OGDEN Rob;
MARTINSOHN Jann;
DIOPERE Eveline;
SENN Helen;
TAYLOR Martin;
HELYAR Sarah;
BONALDO Alessio;
GUANIERO Ilaria;
KOMEN Hans;
2016-03-18
INTER-RESEARCH
JRC88334
1869-215X,
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/aei/v8/p131-145/,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC88334,
10.3354/aei00164,
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