Genetic identification of dried shark fins from the markets in Sabah

Abstract

The effects of shark finning are often underestimated due to the difficulty in tallying shark catches. In Malaysia, the majority of shark merchandises are imported and unrecorded. DNA barcoding is a robust and effective method for species identification, and might be applied on shark samples from the market for a more comprehensive tally of shark catches. This research aims to determine the suitability of DNA barcoding in species determination using dried shark fin samples. This research also attempts to tally the shark catches in the region beyond Sabah's coastline. This research will involve carrying out DNA barcoding on shark fin samples that are taken from markets in Tawau, Sabah to determine the species. This research managed to determine the species of two samples from Tawau, thereby proving the effectiveness of DNA barcoding on dried fin. This research also proved that a bigger sample population is needed for a comprehensive tally of shark catches to be made.