Gene-associated markers provide tools for tackling IUU fishing and false eco-certification

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has played a major role in the overexploitation of global fish populations. In response, international regulations have been imposed and many fisheries have been “eco-certified” by consumer organisations, but methods for independent control of catch certificates and eco-labels are urgently needed. Here we show that by using gene- associated Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), individual marine fish can be assigned back to population of origin with unprecedented high levels of precision. By applying high differentiation SNP assays in four commercial marine fish on a pan-European scale we find 93-100% of individuals could be correctly assigned to origin in policy-driven case studies. We show how case- targeted SNP assays can be created and forensically validated using a centrally maintained and publicly available database. Our results demonstrate how application of gene-associated markers will likely revolutionise origin assignment and become highly valuable tools for fighting illegal fishing and mislabelling worldwide.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair