Detecting and solving fraud in snapper markets

IMG_8227MFL was happy to host a visit by Dr Donna Cawthorn from the Mariani MolEcoLab, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, UK. Donna is a Marie-Curie Fellow working on snappers (Lutjanidae), which are the most highly prized and important fisheries resources throughout the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

But they are frequent targets of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and deliberate mislabelling. Donna is conducting the first comprehensive international trade data analysis for snappers and applying cutting-edge genetic techniques to investigate the diversity of species underpinning the global trade.