what gen-fish will deliver
GEN-FISH TOOLKITS
FISH SURVEY TOOLKIT
GEN-FISH collaborators are developing, testing, and verifying a rapid and reliable field-based sampling method using environmental DNA technology. Once verified, we will be able to extract DNA from simple water samples to answer questions such as:
- Which fish species are in this waterbody?
- How many of each species are there?
- What are they eating?
- How stable is the population within the food web?
We are in the process of testing our Fish Survey Toolkit on 500+ lakes across Canada so we can know – for the first time – which fish species are present and in what abundance. This will be the largest aquatic eDNA survey ever performed and will set the bar for years to come, strengthening Canada’s position as a world leader in eDNA research and freshwater fish science and technologies.
FISH HEALTH TOOLKIT
GEN-FISH is establishing the first “universal” gene expression panel for fish health. With it, we will be able to extract mRNA from freshwater fish anywhere in Canada to determine if certain genes associated with health and performance are being expressed appropriately. The data gathered will answer questions such as:
- To which stressors are these fish being exposed?
- Are the fish adapting to micro and/or landscape-scale environmental stressors, like climate change?
- Are they healthy overall?
DECISION-GUIDING TOOLKIT
Although its contributions to science will be impressive, GEN-FISH was originally conceived as a project to design and develop tools. This means that GEN-FISH will only be considered a success if the science is translated for actual use in the real world–as broadly and widely as possible. For this reason, the social scientists on our team have worked closely with our Project Partners, professionals, community members, and citizen scientists from the very beginning and will continue to do so throughout the program. Together we can use quantitative assessment tools to answer questions such as:
- How can we encourage people to adopt our genomics Toolkits?
- What barriers are there to adoption?
- Are there any potential ethical problems in using the Toolkits?
- Are these Toolkits a good fit with each organization’s goals?