Development of a Novel Method for Monitoring Inshore Fish Communities - EDNA

Natural England is currently exploring applications of DNA technology in survey and monitoring of terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity, with a view to increasing efficiency in our monitoring programmes.

Inshore fish communities are poorly understood. There is still a considerable lack of understanding of inshore fish community composition, community health, population status, and the scale and footprint of critical pressures and the efficacy of management measures. Filling this evidence gap is a priority for Natural England, as it impacts on the confidence that can be attributed to the efficacy of potential management measures, on estimations of Natural Capital values and on their Ecosystem Service and Societal Goods and Benefits values, and on the UK's ability to develop and evidence a world class marine monitoring system post-EU exit. When combined with commitments to improve the state of our marine environment identified in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the UK Marine Strategy, there is a clear evidential need to understand the nature and status of our inshore fish populations. This project will take this work forward to the stage of full operationalisation and integration with traditional approaches, by identifying the spatial scales and frequency of sampling that is required to effectively monitor inshore fish communities, and by adjusting programmable eDNA collection to better understand the relationship between fish communities and underlying habitats, and potentially also fishing activity.

To further validate and operationalise the use of a large volume programmable marine eDNA sampler for use in routine monitoring of inshore fish communities, this project has the following objectives: 1. To test the feasibility of a large-volume programmable marine eDNA sampler in monitoring the composition of fish communities across a range of habitat specific deployments in the south west. 2. To assess the eDNA data for its ability to assess the presence and scale of breeding populations. 3. To statistically analyse the data to determine the sampling frequency needed when using a large-volume programmable marine eDNA sampler for measuring changes to the inshore fish communities in each habitat location. 4. To determine the spatial scale of sampling necessary to measure and infer changes to the inshore fish communities that would assist NE and IFCAs in developing appropriate advice. 5. To determine the presence and distribution of marine Species of Conservation Interest (SOCI) [and non-native species (NNS)], within the survey area. 6. Desirable subsidiary requirement: to test (in a restricted set of locations) the potential ability of eDNA data to assess species fidelity to key protected habitats by manipulation of the temporal sampling regime. For example, at a particular location comparing the eDNA signatures from samples collected during slack and peak tidal flow periods.

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