INSEAD Annual Report 2023-20143 test - Flipbook - Page 20
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Bertarelli Foundation
Shark Genomics Seascapes
Lead Investigator: Professor Barbara Block,
Stanford University
Illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean has drastically
decreased reef shark populations and severely
impacted ocean ecosystems. The loss of these
important species leads to an imbalance in the
oceanic food web, leading to a decline in coral
reef health and the loss of other marine organisms
that depend on healthy reef environments. Limited
surveillance capacity, and insufficient cataloguing
of current shark populations, has made it difficult
to prioritise areas for conservation or measure
success of existing conservation efforts.
Advanced DNA sequencing presents an
opportunity to identify sub-populations of reef
sharks across the entire Indian Ocean region. This
study is working to create a Genomic Seascape,
or comprehensive DNA catalogue, of reef shark
populations within the Indian Ocean which will
enable enhanced tracking of shark populations.
By matching genetic signatures of illegally fished
sharks with those of catalogued populations,
the location of areas that are being targeted by
illegal fisheries can be identified. These Genomic
Seascapes can then be used as a management tool
once lower cost, portable sequencing technology
and genetic testing capacity is introduced at key
fishing ports in the Indian Ocean.
