2021: Promoting Sustainable Seafood by Tracing Ingredients in Aquaculture Feeds
Aquaculture is the fastest-growing component of the global food system, driving demand for low-grade products from wild fish for use in feeding farmed fish. To avoid overfishing this product, researchers need to identify their species and source locations. Initial results, supported by a 2019 Cornell Atkinson-EDF collaboration, used DNA analysis to identify more than 1,000 fish species in feeds from 30 countries, but current methods cannot quantify the reliance on each species. This team will develop genetic methods to distinguish the abundance and geographic source of each species, and work with partners to design genetically enabled standards for aquaculture sustainability certification.
[This project received an Office of Engagement Initiatives supplemental grant.]
Investigators: Peter McIntyre, Jose Andres, Nina Therkildsen, Eugene Won