The Great Global Fish Count (GGFC): A Potential Project of the UN Ocean Decade

Abstract

Abstract The Great Global Fish Count (GGFC) is a community science project to count fish and then other forms of marine life in coastal and later all waters using loose DNA in seawater (marine eDNA) shed by all animals. The project would distribute small filtration devices to millions of people. The devices would enable participants to take water samples, filter the water, stably preserve the filter with the sediment containing DNA, and post the filters to qualified labs for eDNA analysis. Labs would analyze samples, identify species, and upload data to a project database including Web-based geographical information systems accessible to a mobile app. The collector of each sample would learn the species and quantities of DNA in their sample(s) and have access to information from all other samples. The totality of the data would open countless opportunities for analysts to discover patterns and trends. The project would begin by targeting fish species, because of their societal importance, public interest, availability of high-quality primers to grab relevant sequences, and richness of the DNA reference library of fish sequences. Later in the decade the project could expand to all vertebrates (including marine mammals), mollusks, crustaceans, and other taxa, perhaps adding one major group each year.