Comprehensive fisheries and marine data are critical for conservation, food security and ecological impact assessment in Mozambique. However, the country lacks large-scale biodiversity monitoring infrastructure.

The MozamSeq project aims to change that by enabling the large-scale use of eDNA monitoring across Mozambique. In Phase 1, we confirmed strong stakeholder interest in eDNA. We also showed that local fishing communities and conservationists could use our kits to collect high-quality data on marine vertebrates, even though the project was delivered entirely remotely.

The findings also highlighted the importance of investing in DNA reference libraries, so that species detected by eDNA can be named accurately.

Testing eDNA monitoring in a data-scarce region

Phase 1 ran from April to September 2020. It set out to lay the groundwork for national-scale eDNA monitoring by:

• Testing whether citizen scientists could be easily trained to collect high-quality eDNA samples.
• Assessing key stakeholders’ interest in eDNA.
• Evaluating the in-country skills and facilities available, as well as logistical and regulatory constraints.

Remote training, local partnerships

NatureMetrics formed a consortium of in-country partners, including local NGO Ocean Revolution Mozambique, the network of local communities in Inhambane Bay, WCS, the Mozambican national fisheries research institute (IIP) and researchers at the Natural History Museum.

Covid-19 restrictions meant we couldn’t travel to Mozambique, so we trained the NGO partners via video call. Ocean Revolution then passed the training on to local communities in Inhambane through workshops.

Approximately 50 eDNA samples were collected across a range of habitats:

• Coastal: most samples came from Inhambane Bay, with others from Mozambique’s southernmost point and the more developed coastline of Maputo Bay.
• Estuarine and freshwater: scientists from the fisheries institute sampled estuarine and inland freshwater habitats in the south of the country.

Samples collected in Inhambane Bay in July 2020 were stored for three months before shipping, while the September samples were shipped immediately. This let us test whether DNA degraded during storage. All samples were analysed in the NatureMetrics laboratory in the UK using our fish eDNA metabarcoding pipeline.

• 303 fish species detected: DNA quality from citizen scientists was good, and the analysis detected 303 fish species across 41 samples.
• A huge variety of species: Detections ranged from tropical reef fish, herrings and anchovies to mackerel, jacks, gobies, sand-eels, seahorses, flying fish and flatfish.
• Marine mammals: Humpback whale and a dolphin species were also detected.
• No significant DNA degradation: Samples stored for three months before shipping showed no significant loss of DNA quality.

‍

Read the Stakeholders Report here

Groundwork for national-scale monitoring

• Remote delivery proven: Phase 1 showed that rigorous eDNA monitoring can be set up in a data-scarce region entirely through remote training and local partnerships.
• Citizen science that works: Citizen scientists collected high-quality samples, and training was easily shared across different media and languages.
• A strong partner network: The project built a strong network of in-country partners to support future phases.
• Better reference libraries: We developed a new DNA barcoding kit for collecting DNA from identified specimens, to help build local reference libraries and improve species identification.