US ports to use Covid-like tests to identify illegally trafficked seafood species

A man removes the fins of an endangered mako shark – one of more than 100 species identifiable using the PCR test – in Bali, Indonesia. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy

Last year, a colleague of Diego Cardeñosa sent the international shark trade researcher a few pieces of shark fin taken from a bowl of soup in New York City. Using a PCR test similar to those used during the Covid-19 pandemic to test for the virus, Cardeñosa was able to identify the species behind the fin as sandbar shark, an endangered species found in tropical and warm-temperate waters.

Now, Cardeñosa and other scientists from Florida International University, alongside law enforcement officials from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), plan to deploy the tests at ports across the country in order to crack down on seafood fraud and fish trafficking.