March 31, 2022 — Alaska, known for its vast geography and cold, productive waters, supports some of the most valuable fisheries in the world. However, Alaska’s northern latitudes, diverse coastal habitats, and dynamic ocean conditions make studying these fisheries particularly challenging.
An innovative DNA technology may help to change that. Scientists recently demonstrated that environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding can characterize nearshore fish communities in different marine habitats and tidal conditions in Southeast Alaska. Researcher organizations included:
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Auke Bay Laboratories
- University of Alaska Fairbanks’ College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
- Alaska Regional Office’s Habitat Conservation Division
“Environmental or eDNA can revolutionize how we assess nearshore fish communities in Alaska,” said Wes Larson, manager of the science center’s genetics program. “Traditionally, the only way to sample nearshore fish communities is by using beach seines or similar gear types set from either shore or small boats. Now we have another technique for generating similar data sets analyzing a simple water sample with eDNA metabarcoding.”