title: Applying genetic techniques to study remote shark fisheries in northeastern Madagascar.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The shark fisheries of Madagascar remain largely unstudied. Remoteness makes fisheries monitoring challenging while the high value of shark fins combined with the extreme poverty in Madagascar creates intensive pressure on shark resources.
  
  
  METHODS
  We use DNA barcoding and species-specific PCR assays to characterize shark fisheries in Antongil Bay in northeastern Madagascar.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 239 samples taken from individuals collected in 2001 and 2002 correspond to 19 species. The four most common species were Sphyrna lewini, Rhizoprionodon acutus, Carcharhinus brevipinna, and C. sorrah. Antongil Bay may be a breeding area for C. brevipinna, C. leucas, and S. lewini.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Local names are generally not a useful proxy for monitoring the species harvested in the fishery. Conservation efforts should characterize species exploitation at present, create spatial and temporal fishing restrictions to protect endangered species, and restrict large mesh gillnets.
authors.affiliation: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-1070, USA. pdoukakis@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Phaedra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Doukakis
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hanner
authors.forename: Mahmood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shivji
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bartholomew
authors.forename: Demian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amato
mesh_terms: D058500:Animal Fins; D000818:Animals; D061006:Bays; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods*; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005398:Fisheries; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D008270:Madagascar; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011156:Population Density; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012754:Sharks / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV