GELIFES Seminars - Tom Oosting

Tom Oosting (GELIFES)

Integrating genomics into fisheries management

Understanding how populations are structured and respond to their environment is critical for informing effective fisheries management. However, the seemingly boundless marine environment makes monitoring of marine populations incredibly challenging, particularly for weakly structured and highly mobile marine fish. Genomic approaches provide unparalleled power to detect genetic structure in fish characterised by low genetic differentiation, and uncover how they respond to their local environment. However, integration into fisheries management has been limited. Here, I will use Australasian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), an important fisheries species with high cultural value in New Zealand, as an exemplar species to demonstrate how genomics can contribute to developing long-term sustainable management policies in marine fish. I resolved the genetic structure, identifying two genetic clusters with distinct (partial) barriers to gene flow. Selection scans and genotype-by-environment analysis identified genomic regions under selection and provided insight into which environmental factors drive local adaptation. Finally, modelling of future genomic offset (maladaptation) showed the potential impact of climate change under different IPCC models. Integration of these approaches will be critical for developing informed management policies that protect long-term health and promote resilience in marine fish.

Biosketch:
I’ve recently started as an assistant professor at GELIFES. Here, I will utilise my expertise in ecological genomics to investigate how marine populations are structured and how populations respond to their local environment at the molecular level. My academic goal is to understand how marine species are structured and influenced by their environment, generating insights that help develop effective management policies that promote healthy and resilient marine ecosystems. I have completed my PhD and subsequent postdoctoral fellowship at the Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), where I utilised whole-genome sequencing approaches to study population demographics, adaptation, and the impact of climate change in marine fish. My research has predominantly focused on fish, but I am excited to explore all potential collaborations that focus on protecting marine wildlife.