Genes, fish and fisheries: translating science into policy

The 2024 Annual Symposium of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles reviewed the burgeoning impact of 'omics' technologies on fish ecology, management and forecasting. As with life sciences more generally, major advances in speed, cost-effectiveness and breadth of applications in 'omics' has had profound societal and environmental impacts. This article presents a synthesis of when, how and why genetics and genomics have impacted marine fisheries management and uptake by policy makers. After a brief historical perspective on genetics in fisheries and salient advances, including a critique of the traditional disjunct in approaches, three case studies are used to demonstrate impact on policy: real time management of mixed stock fisheries in demersal Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and anadromous sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), and rapid estimation of population abundance in southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) using genetic-based tagging. Common features underpinning successful impact from these and cited studies were examined, including a consideration of the impactful population-level EU traceability programme, FishPopTrace. Among key commonalities of success were the significant role of demand-led needs, genomic automation, cost-effectiveness and speed of processing long-term collaborative programmes in enabling establishment of comprehensive spatial and temporal databases, and effective engagement with stakeholders and end-users. While current trends show a significant upsurge in applications and impacts, especially in application of environmental DNA, there remains a need to foster ongoing fundamental science with large-scale policy-led, targeted collaborative programmes, combined with enhanced visibility of exemplar case studies.