Description:
The cornerstone for monitoring the take of animals and the trade of wildlife products is the ability to identify samples to species. This task becomes exceedingly difficult when presented only with a portion of an organism (e.g. shark fins, fish fillets). Modern genetic techniques can now readily identify species by comparing genetic sequences of an unknown sample to reference libraries (i.e. Barcode of Life Database). Though the technology to genetically identify samples is now readily available the required equipment is too cumbersome to readily transport and use in the field.
