Sustainable fisheries management requires detailed knowledge of population genetic structure. The European sprat is an important commercial fish distributed from Morocco to the Arctic circle, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black seas. Prior to 2018, annual catch advice on sprat from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) was based on five putative stocks: (a) North Sea, (b) Kattegat–Skagerrak and Norwegian fjords, (c) Baltic Sea, (d) West of Scotland—southern Celtic Seas, and (e) English Channel. However, there were concerns that the sprat advice on stock size estimates management plan inadequately reflected the underlying biological units. Here, we used ddRAD sequencing to develop 91 SNPs that were thereafter used to genotype approximately 2,500 fish from 40 locations. Three highly distinct and relatively homogenous genetic groups were identified: (a) Norwegian fjords; (b) Northeast Atlantic including the North Sea, Kattegat–Skagerrak, Celtic Sea, and Bay of Biscay; and (c) Baltic Sea. Evidence of genetic admixture and possibly physical mixing was detected in samples collected from the transition zone between the North and Baltic seas, but not between any of the other groups. These results have already been implemented by ICES with the decision to merge the North Sea and the Kattegat–Skagerrak sprat to be assessed as a single unit, thus demonstrating that genetic data can be rapidly absorbed to align harvest regimes and biological units.

中文翻译：

---

遗传分析重划了欧洲西鲱的经营范围。

可持续渔业管理需要详细的种群遗传结构知识。欧洲鲱是从摩洛哥分布到北极圈，波罗的海，地中海和黑海的重要商业鱼类。在2018年之前，国际海洋勘探理事会（ICES）提出的年度捕捞建议基于五种假定种群：（a）北海，（b）Kattegat–Skagerrak和挪威峡湾，（c）波罗的海，（d）苏格兰西部-凯尔特南部南部，以及（e）英吉利海峡。但是，担心存货估计量管理计划中的小建议不充分反映了基本的生物单位。在这里，我们使用ddRAD测序来开发91个SNP，然后将其用于对40个地点的大约2500条鱼进行基因分型。确定了三个高度不同且相对同质的遗传群体：（a）挪威峡湾；（b）东北大西洋，包括北海，卡特加特-斯卡格拉克，凯尔特海和比斯开湾；（c）波罗的海。从北海和波罗的海之间的过渡带采集的样品中检测到遗传混合和可能的物理混合的证据，但在其他任何组之间均未检测到。这些结果已经由ICES实施，并决定将北海和Kattegat–Skagerrak沙棘合并为一个单位进行评估，从而证明可以迅速吸收遗传数据以使收获制度和生物单位保持一致。从北海和波罗的海之间的过渡带采集的样品中检测到遗传混合和可能的物理混合的证据，但在其他任何组之间均未检测到。这些结果已经由ICES实施，并决定将北海和Kattegat–Skagerrak沙棘合并为一个单位进行评估，从而证明可以迅速吸收遗传数据以使收获制度和生物单位保持一致。从北海和波罗的海之间的过渡带采集的样品中检测到遗传混合和可能的物理混合的证据，但在其他任何组之间均未检测到。这些结果已经由ICES实施，并决定将北海和Kattegat–Skagerrak沙棘合并为一个单位进行评估，从而证明可以迅速吸收遗传数据以使收获制度和生物单位保持一致。