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PARTNERSHIPS FOR ENHANCED ENGAGEMENT IN RESEARCH (PEER)
Cycle 6 (2017 Deadline)


Delineating stock structure for tuna fish within Sulu Sulawesi Regions

PI: Ida Astarini, idaastarini@yahoo.com, Universitas Udayana and BIONESIA
U.S. Partners: Allen Collins, National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service, and Bruce Collette, The Smithsonian Institution
Project Dates: December 2017 - November 2022

Project Overview

Sulu Sulawesi is a highly diverse marine region located in the heart of the Coral Triangle. The diversity of marine species and habitats in this region continue to be threatened by human activities, including overfishing and destructive fishing practices. Escalating threats to the coral reef ecosystem of the Sulu Sulawesi seascape have motivated the establishment of the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Eco-region (SSME), an international partnership launched in 1999 by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The SSME emphasizes the promotion of sustainable fisheries within the region by gathering baseline information on growth rate, migration, and stock structure of highly consumed species such as longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol). Stock structure in commercial fisheries is typically assessed using genetic approaches, allowing managers to understand population mixture and recognize migration patterns between regions. Using this genetic data, we can also identify effective population size—an essential parameter that helps determine the vulnerability of populations, thereby informing sustainable management and conservation decisions dealing with exploited species. Although powerful, defining stock structure in SSME regions is challenging and requires expertise in conservation genetic skills that are rarely available in this region. Many labs are not equipped with the tools or training required to support this type of research. At this time, research capacity has been developed sporadically and is not specifically designed to support conservation and policy. Using insufficient data to develop fisheries management and conservation strategies could lead to ineffective conservation efforts that put critical fisheries resources in jeopardy.

6-446 Kedonganan Sampling6-446 Student Lab Work
Members of the research team collect fish samples at the Kedonganan Fish Market in Jimbaran (photos courtesy of Dr. Astarini).Students from Trunojoyo and Udayana Universities in the lab.

This project will provide essential scientific information to support policy design and ensure that sustainable fisheries practices are effective within SSME regions. The first major activity is understanding stock structures of longtail tuna within the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, and to this end the team will collect 30-50 samples per population/location at sites off Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The samples will undergo 2b-RAD analysis at the Smithsonian Institution, to be carried out by visiting research team members on three-month internships with guidance provided by the U.S. partners. Back in Indonesia, the team will organize several training and outreach activities, including a molecular genetic and biodiversity workshop and a next-generation DNA sequencing workshop to train students and faculty from partner universities in the theory and application of modern molecular genetic research for the study of fisheries, marine biodiversity, and conservation. Near the end of the project, the PI and her team will also host a national seminar on sustainable fisheries of tuna and other commercial species to discuss the study’s findings. The event will also provide a platform for stakeholders, including academic researchers, NGO representatives, and government and industry staff, to share their ideas on emerging fisheries issues and discuss how research can be applied to effective sustainable fisheries management strategies.

Final Summary of Project Activities

Under a final no-cost extension during all of 2022, PI Dr. Ida Astarini and her team brought to fruition many of the goals they had worked towards over the five-year course of this project. All sample collection had been finished in previous years, so this year they focused on analyzing their mitochondrial data and preparing the RAD data library. At the time they submitted their final report at the end of December 2022, they were still completing final revisions of a manuscript on their mitochondrial data analysis results prior to submitting it for publication. As for the RAD library preparation, the team identified a genomic laboratory service in Taiwan that could work with the library preparation and sequencing of RAD data. However, due to the differences in reagents and technical methods, they had to change the methodology from 2b-RAD to RADseq. However, the PI expects that the two methods will yield similar results to detect the population genetic data.

In 2022 alone, this PEER team produced 10 papers. The most recent year’s output included six research articles (five journals and one proceedings) published by the mini-grant awardees on the project, one research article published by undergraduate students involved in the PEER team, two scientific articles published by team staff members, and one undergraduate thesis from a student on the research team. This final year also saw the hosting of two internship students from the Biology Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Udayana University, at the Bionesia Lab. The internship program lasted from January through June 2022.

The team organized three workshops and training events in 2022. Two workshops were held by Udayana University. The “Workshop on Journal Access – Science Direct” held on January 16 in a hybrid format attended by 140 participants (90 online and 50 in-person). The “Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights – HAKI (Hak Kekayaan Intelektual)” was held on April 28, also in a hybrid format, and it drew 150 participants (140 online participants and 10 in-person). As for the third workshop, project team members were invited by the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN) to collaborate on the workshop “International Training on Fish Taxonomy 2022.” This event was also in collaboration with the Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Udayana University, and held in Bali June 9-19. There were 20 participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. The event aimed to increase the capacity building of the participants to conduct fish identification based on morphology and genetics. In addition, on August 8-9, the PEER team collaborated with the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science at IPB (Institut Pertanian Bogor) to hold the International Seminar on Marine Biodiversity, Utilization, Conservation, and Management (MarBioUtiCoM) 2022. The hybrid event focused on the theme “Bolstering the Health of Our Ocean and Ensuring the Sustainable Use of Marine Bioresources.” In this international seminar, PEER researcher Ni Luh Astria Yusmalinda participated as an oral presenter and shared the results of the project in a talk entitled “Species identification and genetic structure of longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) in Aceh and Bali, Indonesia using mitochondrial DNA.” The MarBioUtiCoM 2022 participants came from 56 different institutions and six countries, including Japan, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia. During this final year of the PEER project, team members were also involved in the preparation of the 2nd International Seminar on Fish and Fisheries Sciences (ISFFS) and the International Summer Course on Tropical Mangrove Ecosystem: Vegetation and Fish Monitoring, which will be held in June 2023.

Overall, Dr. Astarini reports that she had her team managed to collect samples from various locations in the Indonesian and South China Sea. Plans for collecting samples from the Sulu Sulawesi Sea could not be realized due to difficulty finding the longtail tuna species within the area. The team had completed collection of mitochondrial data from all the samples by the time the project ended, but they will continue to work on obtaining and analyzing the RAD data as described above. Besides the lead researchers on the PEER team, the project also supported several researchers through the innovative mini grant awards, resulting in several scientific articles published by the awardees. Five undergraduate students from two universities (Udayana University and Syiah Kuala University) received support and mentorship in completing their undergraduate theses using data from the project. Through the project, Dr. Astarini and her team also built collaboration with other universities, government institutions, and the broader research community, and they facilitated the capacity building of students, researchers, and faculty through workshops and conferences. Three senior researcher team members also had the opportunity to improve their own technical skills and make new collaborative contacts thanks to their PEER-supported three-month fellowships at the U.S. partner’s lab at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, in the summer of 2019.

Going forward, the team plans to continue collaborating with their U.S. partner and with various government institutions and universities to collect more data on longtail tuna genomics. Through this project, they have established linkages with several new partners, including the University of Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), the Indonesian Ichthyology Community, BRIN (Badan Riset Nasional/National Research Institute), and several universities in Indonesia. Through these partnerships, they hope to continue and expand their collaborations not only on tuna genomics but also on fisheries and conservation more broadly.

Publications

Ni Putu Dian Pertiwi. 2022. Identifikasi Spesies ikan Pelagis yang Dijual di Pasar Kota Denpasar Menggunakan Marka Control Region Mitokondria (mtDNA). Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi Undiksha 9(1), 95-102. https://ejournal.undiksha.ac.id/index.php/JJPB/article/view/45584

Ida Ayu Astarini, Enex Yuniarti Ningsih, Devy Simanungkalit, Shella Ayu Ardiana, M.Danie Al Malik, Ni Luh Astria Yusmalinda, Andrianus Sembiring, Ni Putu Dian Pertiwi, Ni Kadek Dita Cahyani, Allen Collins. 2021. Genetic variation of longtail tuna Thunnus tonggol landed in four fish markets in Indonesia based on mitochondrial DNA. Biodiversitas 22(4), 1644-1651. Doi: 10.13057/biodiv/d220408. (See https://smujo.id/biodiv/article/view/7304)

Shella Ayu Ardiana, Ida Ayu Astarini, I Nyoman Giri Putra, Putu Dian Pertiwi, Andrianus Sembiring, Astria Yusmalinda, Danie Al Malik. 2021. Keragaman Genetik dan Filogenetik Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) yang Didaratkan di Pasar Ikan Pabean, Surabaya (Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic of Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) Landed in Pabean Fish Market, Surabaya). Musamus Fisheries and Marine Journal 3(2), 107-115. Doi: 0.35724/mfmj.v0i0.3375 (See https://ejournal.unmus.ac.id/index.php/fish/article/view/3375)

Paul Helga Fernandez, IGB Sila Dharma, I Nyoman Giri Putra, Andrianus Sembiring, Astria Yusmalinda, Danie Al Malik, Putu Dian Pertiwi. 2021. Analisis Filogenetik Ikan Tuna (Thunnus spp.) yang didaratkan di Pelabuhan Benoa, Bali. Journal of Marine Research and Technology 4(2), 37-41. https://doi.org/10.24843/JMRT.2021.v04.i02.p06

Enex Yuniarti Ningsih, Elok Faiqoh, Ida Ayu Astarini, Putu Dian Pertiwi, Andrianus Sembiring, Ni Luh Astria Yusmalinda, Muhammad Danie Al Malik. 2021. Identifikasi dan Keragaman Genetik Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) yang Didaratkan di PPI Kedonganan dan PPP Muncar menggunakan Marka D-loop Mitokondria. Journal of Marine and Aquatic Sciences 7(1), 94-102. https://doi.org/10.24843/jmas.2021.v07.i01.p13

Hanif Abdullah, I Wayan Restu, Made Ayu Pratiwi, and Gde Raka Angga Kartika. 2020. Aspek Reproduksi Ikan Tongkol Abu – Abu (Thunnus tonggol) yang Didaratkan di Pelabuhan Pendaratan Ikan Kedonganan. Current Trends in Aquatic Science III(2), 30-36. https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/CTAS/article/view/55711

Putu Niken Ayu Saraswati, Pande Gde Sasmita Julyantoro, Gde Raka Angga Kartika, Made Ayu Pratiwi. 2020. Jenis Makanan dan Area Makan Ikan Tongkol Abu –abu (Thunnus tonggol) yang Didaratkan di PPI Kedonganan pada Musim Barat. Current Trends in Aquatic Science III(2), 24-29. https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/CTAS/article/view/55591

Muhammad Alfiansyah Mahmud, I Wayan Restu, Made Ayu Pratiwi, Gde Raka Angga Kartika. 2019. Pertumbuhan Ikan Tongkol Abu – Abu (Thunnus Tonggol) yang Didaratkan di Pangkalan Pendaratan Ikan (PPI) Kedonganan. Current Trends in Aquatic Science II(2), 1-8. https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/CTAS/article/view/49412

Nurda Alamsyah, Teuku Haris Iqbal, Adrian Damora, Agung S. Batubara, Zainal A. Muchlisin. 2020. Morphometric Variations of Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) Population in the Aceh Sea Waters. Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Kelautan dan Perikanan Unsyiah 5(1), 34-43. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341055342_VARIASI_MORFOMETRIK_IKAN_TONGKOL_ABU-ABU_Thunnus_tonggol_DI_PERAIRAN_LAUT_ACEH

Made Ayu Pratiwi, Gde Raka Angga Kartika. 2021. Biologi Reproduksi Ikan Tongkol Abu – Abu (Thunnus tonggol Bleeker, 1851) yang Tertangkap di Perairan Selat Bali. Journal of Marine and Aquatic Sciences 7(1), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.24843/jmas.2021.v07.i01.p07

A. Rahmah, A M. Makhfirah, A Damora, E Miswar, R M Aprilla, A Sembiring. 2019. Vulnerability Status of Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) in Southwest Aceh Waters, Indonesia. IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science (ICFAES 2019). IOP Publishing. 348: 012116. Doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/348/1/012116.

Open Data


The team has published a portion of their mitochondrial control region data on the public platform Genbank. All of the sequence data were deposited with accession numbers MT542205-MT542319, MW658015-MW658124, and OM993540-OM993546


Video Links 

On November 24, 2020, project team member Ni Putu Dian Pertiwi was invited by Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha (Undiksha) to give a general talk about the project and the team’s ongoing research efforts. Her presentation was part of a webinar entitled “Implementasi Genetika Tingkat Lanjut” [Advanced Genetics Implementation], which was attended by more than 150 students, faculty members, and lecturers of Undiksha, as well as biology teachers from various schools in Bali (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuQxueYEJCo).

On January 11-13, 2021, members of the PEER team presented an online short course entitled “Genetika Konservasi Laut” [Marine Conservation Genetics] in collaboration with Nusa Cendana University and Nusa Nipa University in Kupang-East Nusa Tenggara Province. The course is available to the public at the following links: Day1 https://youtu.be/4qbxhx3N9l0; Day 2 https://youtu.be/CZ77mRlqVT8; Day 3 https://youtu.be/OXRK6MRGjDE). The training activity was co-funded by a grant from the Rufford Foundation.

Videos from the SFFS-International Seminar on Fish and Fisheries Science: Science and innovative technologies for ensuring the long-term sustainability of fisheries towards Society 5.0 are available on YouTube (Day 1: https://youtu.be/cGONY9r_9xU; Day 2: https://youtu.be/tzih-BnoWNE).


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