January 2011
Welcome to the FishPopTrace e-Newsletter
Message from the Coordinator
In this issue...
It has been a busy and productive time for FishPopTrace since the last electronic newsletter back in September 2010. Foremost among the activities was the fifth FishPopTrace workshop, held in Madeira in early November. The focus of the meeting was to review the outputs from primary and novel tools, and especially to apply various panels of the newly-developed SNP markers to assign individual fish back to populations. Test scenarios for assigning fish were taken from priority case studies that were relevant to fisheries and to European consumers, including traceability of cod from the Baltic and North Sea, sole from the Mediterranean and North Sea, hake from the Bay of Biscay and Mediterranean, and herring from the NE Atlantic and North Sea. The key was to minimise the number of SNPs to do the job well: for example, with just 10 SNPs, 96% of cod samples could be directly identified, and assigned back to either the North Sea or Baltic. We were also fortunate at the workshop to invite Erik Stokstad, Environment Reporter from Science, who subsequently wrote a News Focus Article on FishPopTrace “To Fight Illegal Fishing, Forensic DNA Gets Local”, available at: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6010/1468.full.pdf.
We were also pleased to welcome Dr Kevin Glover from the Bergen Marine Institute who provided informative overviews on the traceability of whales and salmonids, the latter providing a timely link to traceability applications in aquaculture. It was especially interesting to hear about case studies of how genetic data, primarily from microsatellites, could be used to inform policy and further serve as a deterrent against release of captive fish into the wild.
Full efforts are now underway within the consortium for the forensic validation of a range of SNP panels that encompass various geographic scales for each of our target species (cod, herring, hake and sole), together with exploratory tests for otolith data and information generated from novel tools, especially the use of proteomics in population traceability.
A further piece of significant news is the award of a no-cost three- month extension for FishPopTrace, with the project formal end date now at 31 May 2011. The additional time will allow us to further validate the primary tools and development of an immunologically-based test for population identity in hake, together with more time to prepare for the final workshop in May 2011. The final workshop will take place on the 10th and 12th May at the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe (http://www.louvaininstitute.com/asp/index.asp). The consortium will hold a stakeholder meeting on 11 May, comprising a forum of scientists, stakeholders and end-users, to discuss the outputs of FishPopTrace in relation to advances in traceability tools within the European context. The one-day meeting (10.00-17.00) will be held at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels (http://www.naturalsciences.be/),where we aim to bring together around 150 participants, including members of the European Commission, to hear and discuss how the tools generated within FishPopTrace can contribute regionally and globally in tackling Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing and consumer fraud. Attendance at the meeting is by invitation only, due to limited capacity, but for anybody with an interest in participating, please contact Jane Smith (JaneSmith.FishPopTrace@bangor.ac.uk), as soon as possible.
Consortium members are engaged in finalising various data sets, as well as generating drafts of publications. Although thoughts inevitably shift towards securing a legacy for FishPopTrace and exploring options to further develop and enhance traceability tools in the fisheries sector, considerable energies will still be required, both for preparation of the final workshop and stakeholder meeting, and importantly also in the comprehensive analysis and application of FishPopTrace data sets. We look forward to releasing key outputs in the very near future.
Gary Carvalho g.r.carvalho@bangor.ac.uk
1. Project update
1.1: IFREMER
Fatty acid analysis on herring and cod are completed. A sampling of herring and cod individuals from Eastern Channel and South of the North Sea will be done during the IBTS research campaign in January and February. These new muscle samples will be used for FAPA result validation.
1.2: ANFACO
Sampling has been done of 20 individuals per species of sole and hake. Samples for additional FAPA and Genexp analysis have been sent to corresponding partners (P3, P12).
Started SNP validation (RT-PCR) work on the selected SNPs for the 4 species (WP4). Validation on hake already accomplished, work continues with sole.
1.3: NAGREF
In November 2010, NAGREF received additional sole muscle and heart tissue samples for fatty acid analysis, corresponding to 20 fish collected on 15 October by Partner 13 (ANFACO). This sample was intended to provide information concerning the temporal stability of tissue fatty acid composition of the species in the Cantabric Sea and, thus, to complement relevant data from other FPT areas (Aegean, Biscay North, Southern North Sea). The fatty acid profile analysis of this sample has now been completed.
On 23 December 2010, NAGREF obtained an additional sample of hake (20 fish) from the North Aegean Sea. Tissue samples for SNPs (fin clips), proteomics (muscle and brain), otolith morphology, and fatty acid analysis (muscle and heart) were collected. As in the case above, this third annual sample collected from this area, is intended to provide information concerning the temporal stability of the hake population in the North Aegean, as inferred by the application of the above mentioned FPT tools. The fatty acid profile analysis on this sample has been initiated while the tissues for the other tools will be forwarded to the corresponding partners.
1.4: UCM
We are still in the process for the antibody production. In the near future these antibodies will be tested in real fish individuals to check if they can be used as biomarkers,
2. Personnel News
2.1: Departures from FishPopTrace
BREMEN
Dr. Kristina Kappel has now left the FishPopTrace project since the resources are exhausted
3.Reports on meetings and conferences
3.1:Congreso Internacional de la Calidad de los Productos Pesqueros
17 - 18th November 2010, Bilbao, Palacio Euskalduna
ANFACO Presented a poster on: The Structure of Fish Populations and Traceability of Fish and Fish Products Authors: M. Espiñeira, F.C. Lago, B. Herrero, M. Atanassova, J.M. Vieites
3.2: European Science Foundation
16 September 2010, Brussels
The 2nd Marine Board Forum brought together over 90 scientists, policy makers and stakeholders from 53 organisations to discuss critical gaps and opportunities for the long-term monitoring of Europe’s marine environment. The Forum addressed the role of marine observatories in the provision of long-term time series data from European seas, the technical challenges for an effective interoperability between systems, current observatories and projects in place and the critical gaps in coverage and measurements, and how sustained funding schemes, new partnerships and innovative governing structures can be designed to best support a stable observatory network.
4. FishPopTrace Workshop 6
Plans are progressing well for the final FishPopTrace workshop to be held in Leuven/Brussels
The final workshop will take place on the 10th and 12th May at the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe (http://www.louvaininstitute.com/asp/index.asp).
The consortium will hold a stakeholder meeting on 11 May, to be held at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels (http://www.naturalsciences.be/)
5.Relevant future meetings
5.1 Gordon Conference—Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics
July 10-15, 2011 College of New England, Biddeford Maine
The 2011 Gordon Conference on Evolutionary & Ecological Genomics will present cutting-edge research on using genomics approaches to study adaptation of organisms to changing environments, genome evolution and population genetics, as well as the evolution of complex phenotypes. In particular, several of the talks this year will highlight evidence for evolution at the molecular and phenotypic levels in response to climate
change. A diversity of sessions will highlight recent results from natural as well as experimental populations, and will cover both non-model and model species. There will be an exciting balance between ecologists using genomics to study adaptation in rapidly evolving systems, as well as genomicists using large-scale sequence, expression and functional assays to study variation among populations and species.
6. Consortium Publications (as a result of FishPopTrace activity):
6.1: Gonzalez EG., Krey G., Espiñeira M. et al. (2010). "Population Proteomics of the European Hake (Merluccius merluccius)." Journal of Proteome Research 9(12): 6392-6404.
7.Other useful Related Publications
7.1: EurOcean
EU´s Fisheries Control Agency adopts work programme 2011-2015
The Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) based in Vigo, Spain, has adopted its multiannual work programme for 2011-2015 as well as the annual work programme and budget for 2011.
The CFCA works in close cooperation with the European Commission and Member States, to ensure compliance with the rules of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, in particular the new fisheries control regime which entered into force this year (IUU and Control Regulations).
In the coming years, the Agency will continue to undertake its activities around its two main strategic axes: Operational Coordination of fisheries controls and inspections, through joint deployment plans (JDP) for different fish species and areas, and Capacity Building, focusing on helping Member States develop systems for effectively sharing and collecting data and intelligence.
7.2:The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010
Record levels of fish consumption, global stocks to rebuild, industry trends: Rome, January 31, 2011
The contribution of fish to food has reached a record average of almost 17 kg per capita fish provides at least 15 percent of animal protein needs means more than 3 billion people, according to the FAO report
"The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010".
Interesting paper showing that warmer summer waters off the Norwegiancoast are apparently impeding the growth of cod. This paper seems tochallenge past studies claiming that warming summer water temperatures increased cod size in other regions.