Commercial fish abundance estimation in the Belgian part of the North Sea through eDNA ddPCR analyses

Monitoring of fish assemblages in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) mainly happens through trawling. While effective, this method is invasive and destructive as it disturbs bottom communities, catches non-target species and removes organisms from the environment. A more sustainable alternative for monitoring marine diversity is the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) which comprises intra- and extracellular genetic material that comes from the shedding of organic material, like scales and mucus in the case of fish. When applying metabarcoding on eDNA, community composition can be inferred s... Mehr ...