Peiwen Li, PhD Candidate Lougheed Lab Towards a sustainable Arctic fishery: Using genomics to quantify population structure and genetic diversity of the Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) Climate change is having profound impacts on ecosystems worldwide, and is especially pronounced at high-latitudes that have witnessed proportionately greater regional warming. In the Arctic, climate change is considered to be one of the major threats to traditional diets and this has resulted in changing distributions of game and fish species, food insecurity, and human health issues. However, decline in sea ice extent brought about by rising air and water temperature has also opened the Lower Northwest Passage (LNWP) to shipping, and has increased opportunities to establish a sustainable, commercial fishery. Our research, as part of the Genome Canada-funded Towards a Sustainable Fishery for Nunavummiut (TSFN) project, uses genomic tools to understand population structure and genetic diversity of the Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in the LNWP, with the goal of contributing to the development of management plans for a local fishery. Using both DNA sequencing- and RNA sequencing-derived genome-wide panels of markers, I found multiple lines of evidence supporting the existence of two char genetic clusters, one corresponding to King William Island (KWI), and the other corresponding to the adjacent mainland sites. I found little to no genetic sub-structure within these two regions. I also developed a reduced panel of 182 informative markers using Genotyping-in-Thousands as a tool for monitoring the local fishery, allowing fast and accurate assignment of individuals of unknown natal origin to the two genetic clusters. Overall, my results suggest the possibility for a regionally-based management approach, rather than a river-based scheme. Taken together, my research provides insights on population structure of this most northern fish species, and some guidance and tools for the development of a sustainable char fishery in the KWI region of the LNWP.
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