With just one water sample, and using no nets or fishhooks, the University of New Brunswick’s Dr. Scott Pavey can tell what types of fish live in a stream or lake. Now, Dr. Pavey is using his expertise, equipment and lab in a nation-wide, $9.1-million funded project that will catalogue fish across Canada.
GEN-FISH, the Genomics Network for Fish Identification, Stress and Health, is based out of the University of Windsor. Researchers from 13 institutions across Canada will create systems both to identify the presence of species using DNA barcoding and to monitor stressors detectable through gene expression.
“This project will give us high-throughput tools to measure the presence and health of fish species, which has important implications for the conservation and management of fish stocks,” said Dr. Pavey. “Government, Indigenous Peoples, and other groups will be able to benefit from the project’s findings and from easier and cheaper access to data about lakes and waterways.”
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Image via University of New Brunswick.