2026/07/01 by Madeline E. Green, Madeline Green, Brittany Finucci +6
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Identification and Quantification in Food
paper · doi:10.1002/aqc.70419
openalex publication_date 2026/07/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/09
ABSTRACT The reopening of the Maldivian gulper shark ( Centrophorus spp.) fishery highlights the need for precautionary management under substantial uncertainty. Gulper sharks are among the least productive and most vulnerable marine species, with extremely slow recovery following overexploitation. Although reopening without evidence of recovery poses clear conservation risks, the precautionary principle is insufficiently operationalised in a proposal to use Environmental DNA (eDNA) to inform management, lacking defined reference points, recovery thresholds, or harvest control rules. eDNA, as currently applied, cannot meet the evidentiary requirements of precautionary fisheries management, as it provides presence‐only information and cannot reliably indicate abundance, population structure, or recovery. eDNA should therefore complement, not replace, robust baseline data, species‐specific assessments and explicit decision rules.