At Matís ohf. has developed a fast and reliable method for analyzing the species of Icelandic marine resources, but the method is based on genetic analysis.
A survey in the United States revealed that about 25% of fish products sold in markets or restaurants are not sold under the right name, and of course cheap fish is being sold as a more expensive species. If this proportion is general, then consumers of seafood are being cheated by large sums.
This project, which was funded by the AVS Fund, results in another equally important benefit, which is to identify various marine organisms that are difficult to identify species by appearance alone. Such methods are very time consuming and require trained taxonomists. The genetic analysis method is fast and gives a reliable result, but it is possible to detect eggs, larvae, juveniles and juveniles of fish that can be difficult to identify, for example if samples are not whole or detect immature life forms.
There is also great interest in being able to analyze the composition of gastric contents from commercial stocks, but such observations are important in assessing the ecological relationship between commercial stocks. Thus, these genetic studies can shed light on the extent to which various commercial fish could eat eggs, larvae and juveniles of their own and other commercial stocks.
The genetic analysis method developed is based on the sequencing of three species differentiating genes (marker genes). The aim was to build a database for 26 marine resources. Genetic analysis was performed on the mitochondrial genes cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), cytochrome b (Cytb) and 16S RNA (16S) from several samples from the 26 species defined as Iceland's commercial stocks. The method was tested on unknown samples obtained from fish shops, from the Marine Research Institute's sample collection and finally juveniles that were 2-8 cm long were identified. In all cases, the species could be genotyped using the DNA genetic method, while the appearance of the juveniles was quite difficult.
This new research tool is useful for those who conduct research on marine organisms, in addition to which it can be very useful in solving ever-increasing doubts in the markets.
Project manager's report: The development of a genetic analysis method for species determination remains in Iceland's commercial stocks.
AVS reference number: R 012-07