Genetic markers to combat illegal marlin

Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers on Tuesday announced that they have discovered a way to genetically test blue marlin to determine ocean of origin, allowing federal agencies to more effectively enforce the law, as it’s illegal to sell and import Atlantic blue marlin in the United States due to overfishing concerns. It is, however, legal to import and sell blue marlin from Pacific or Indian oceans.

The researchers, whose findings were published in a recent issue of Conservation Genetics Resources, identified 10 new microsatellite markets that agencies can use to readily discriminate between Indo-Pacific and Atlantic fish.

The team identified the new markers by examining blue marlin heart tissue —20 fish from mid-Pacific waters near Hawaii and 20 fish from the equatorial eastern Atlantic near Ghana.

“These new markers amplify well using samples from Atlantic and Pacific blue marlin,” said Laurie Sorenson, one of the researchers. “That means that they have value and utility in studies of both stocks. Use of these markers will provide a more powerful means of identifying the ocean of origin, allowing enforcement of regulations for this species.

“The new test provides more power to discriminate Atlantic and Indo-Pacific blue marlin. It uses a suite of markers to identify a sample’s ocean of origin with enough accuracy to be able to enforce the prohibition on the sale of Atlantic blue marlin,” she added.

Genetic tests to determine the origin of blue marlin and other marine species are conducted by the Marine Forensics Program within NOAA’s Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research in Charleston, S.C. Biologists from the center are scheduled to visit VIMS this winter to be introduced to the new method.

“Domestically, commercial fishing operations generally aren’t a problem. But a black market does exist that may be supplied with recreationally harvested billfish. In some places, recreational anglers opportunistically target Atlantic marlin and sailfish for sale as a means to cover their expenses,” said Jeff Radonski, acting deputy special agent in charge of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement’s Southeast Division. “The potential issue is locally harvested marlin being comingled with legally imported marlin through fraudulent certificates of eligibility or invoices.”

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