DNA barcoding was used in order to identify aquatic invertebrates sampled from fisheries bycatch and discards. A total of 440 unique cytochrome c oxidase sub unit I (COI) barcodes were generated for 22 species from three important phyla (Arthropoda, Cnidaria, and Mollusca). All the species were sequenced and submitted to GenBank and Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) databases using 654 bp-long fragment of mitochondrial COI gene. Two of them (Pontastacus leptodactylus and Rapana bezoar) were first records of the species for the BOLD database and six of them (Carcinus aestuarii, Loligo vulgaris, Melicertus kerathurus, Nephrops norvegicus, Scyllarides latus, and Scyllarus arctus) were first standard (>648 bp) COI barcode records for the GenBank database. COI barcodes were analyzed for nucleotide composition, nucleotide pair frequencies, and Kimura's two-parameter genetic distance. Mean genetic distance among species was found increasing at higher taxonomic levels. Neighbor-joining trees generated were congruent with morphometric-based taxonomic classification. Findings of this study clearly demonstrate that DNA barcodes could be used as an efficient molecular tool in identification of not only target species from fisheries but also bycatch and discard species, and so it could provide us leverage for a better understanding in monitoring and management of fisheries and biodiversity.

Sequence analysis of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene was used to confirm the identity of species in 50 commercial surimi products labeled as Alaskan pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). All sequences (655 base pairs long) produced from the samples were aligned and compared with reference sequences from the GenBank database. A Neighbor Joining tree clustered samples into eight groups. Results showed that only 16% (8/50) of the surimi samples were made from Alaskan pollock as declared. The remaining species detected in samples belonged to the families Sciaenidae (12%), Synodontidae (16%), Merlucciidae (38%), Nemipteridae (8%), Priacanthidae (2%), Mullidae (2%), and two species of Gadidae (4%).

The Effects of Salting on Chemical Quality of Vacuum Packed Liquid Smoked and Traditional Smoked Rainbow Trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss) Fillets During Chilled Storage