The queen conch fishery in Jamaica is sustained by Pedro Bank, which is the main harvesting site located approximately 80 km south-west from Kingston. Due to its relative size, Pedro Bank has been subdivided into zones for management purposes by the Fisheries Division and the Veterinary Services Division. Understanding whether these sub-divisions reflect different sub-populations is critical for managing exploitation levels because fisheries management must demonstrate that harvesting does not endanger the future viability of the population as queen conch are on Appendix II of the Convention in Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This determination is essential for the continued export to international markets such as the European Union. Two hundred and eight samples were collected across the entire Pedro Bank and were genetically characterized using nine polymorphic microsatellite loci. Population structure analysis for Lobatus gigas from Pedro Bank yielded low but significant values (F ST = 0.009: p = 0.006) and suggested a high magnitude of gene flow indicative of a fit and viable population throughout the bank. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated a 100% variation within individual samples with little variation (0.9%) between populations. In contrast pairwise genetic comparisons identified significant differences between populations located to the south eastern and eastern region of the bank to those in the central and western locations. Bayesian clustering analysis also indicated the likelihood of two population sub-divisions (K=2) on Pedro Bank. The results provided evidence of a weak but significant population structure which has crucial implications for the fishing industry as it suggests the use of ecosystem based management (EBM) in setting quotas to promote sustainable harvesting of L. gigas within each monitoring zone on Pedro Bank.

中文翻译：

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牙买加佩德罗银行女王海螺（Lobatus gigas）种群的遗传组成及其在渔业管理中的用途

牙买加皇后海螺渔业由佩德罗银行（Pedro Bank）维持，佩德罗银行是主要的捕捞地点，距金斯敦（Kingston）西南约80公里。由于其相对规模，佩德罗银行已被渔业部和兽医服务部划分为多个管理区域。了解这些分区是否反映了不同的种群对于管理开发水平至关重要，因为渔业管理必须证明捕捞不会危害人口的未来生存能力，因为海螺精炼机已列入《濒危野生物种贸易公约》附录二动物区系和动植物（CITES）。这一决心对于继续向欧洲联盟等国际市场出口至关重要。在整个佩德罗河岸收集了208个样本，并使用9个多态微卫星基因座进行了遗传鉴定。来自佩德罗河岸的长臂莲的种群结构分析得出的值低但很重要（F ST = 0.009：p = 0.006），并表明高水平的基因流动表明整个河岸都有合适的种群。分子方差分析（AMOVA）表明，单个样本内的差异为100％，而群体之间的差异很小（0.9％）。相反，成对遗传比较发现位于该银行东南部和东部地区的种群与中部和西部地区的种群之间存在显着差异。贝叶斯聚类分析还表明了佩德罗银行两个人口细分的可能性（K = 2）。