FishBase launches Genetic Diversity Risk Indicator (GDRI), empowering managers to detect invisible threats to ocean health
November 2025 — In the face of overfishing, climate change, and habitat loss, a critical component of species survival often goes unmeasured: genetic diversity. Today, FishBase announces the launch of the Genetic Diversity Risk Indicator (GDRI), a groundbreaking tool that transforms complex genetic data into clear, actionable conservation insights for fish populations worldwide.
Why Genetic Diversity Matters
Genetic diversity is a population’s insurance against unexpected crises, enabling adaptation to changing ocean temperatures, disease resistance, and recovery from exploitation. Yet this critical information has been scattered across scientific literature, difficult to access and compare. Research shows that commercially important species like European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and Blackbellied angler (Lophius budegassa) exhibit reduced genetic diversity in heavily fished Mediterranean waters, signalling urgent conservation needs.
How GDRI Works
GDRI is built on COI-π, a standardised measure of genetic diversity from the mitochondrial COI gene. By comparing a population’s COI-π against scientifically established thresholds, GDRI assigns clear risk categories: High (Red) for urgent action, Medium (Yellow) for caution and monitoring, and Low (Green) for healthy diversity.
The tool draws on unprecedented global data: 1,426 ray-finned fish species analysed across worldwide, East Asian, and Mediterranean regions, plus 256 shark and ray species assessed globally. These thresholds, established by Dr Natalia Petit-Marty and colleagues (2022), provide region-specific benchmarks accounting for evolutionary history and ecological conditions.
A Platform Built on Shared Knowledge
FishBase has long embodied a philosophy now recognised in this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences: that shared knowledge and open institutions create the conditions for sustained, collective prosperity. Just as economic growth depends on inclusive access to innovation, ocean conservation depends on freely accessible data that empowers collective action. GDRI extends this vision into the genetic realm.
“Data sharing is the foundation of scientific knowledge,” explains Dr Natalia Petit-Marty, whose postdoctoral research provided GDRI’s methodological foundation. “In times of global change, sharing genetic diversity data within a platform like FishBase allows us to disentangle the main drivers of adaptive potential loss and promote measures towards healthy and sustainable oceans.”
Dr Celia Schunter, who leads the development team at the Swire Institute of Marine Science, University of Hong Kong, builds on this vision: “GDRI is a freely accessible tool where researchers worldwide contribute their findings, and in return, everyone gains the insights needed to protect marine life. When we share openly, we amplify our collective capacity to understand, respond, and safeguard the adaptive potential of fish populations for generations to come.”
Integrated into FishBase, users can cross-reference genetic diversity with ecological and fisheries data for over 36,000 fish species. Researchers can input their data and immediately compare their populations globally, whilst managers receive clear signals without specialised genetics training.
A Call for Collaboration
The launch of GDRI represents a shift towards recognising genetic diversity as a fundamental component of fisheries assessment and marine conservation, aligning with the UN Ocean Decade’s vision of collective action and open knowledge sharing. As noted in a 2017 FAO report, most resource managers still lack routine access to genetic diversity information, despite its proven value for stock assessment, traceability, and conservation planning.
The team invites researchers worldwide to contribute their genetic diversity data, helping build a more comprehensive picture of global fish population health. With future funding, the team plans to expand coverage to additional species and regions. Training workshops are planned for March 2026.
In data-scarce regions, genetic diversity assessments provide early warnings before population crashes appear in catch statistics—a reminder that ocean health depends on knowledge freely shared and collectively stewarded.
Access GDRI: FishBase Main Page → Tools → Distribution → Genetic Diversity
Contribute Data: Contact Dr Celia Schunter at schunter(at)hku.hk
Funding: The Swire Group Charitable Trust, with collaboration between Quantitative Aquatics and the Schunter Lab at the Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong.
Key References:
Petit-Marty, N., et al. (2022). Declining Population Sizes and Loss of Genetic Diversity in Commercial Fishes: A Simple Method for a First Diagnostic. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9:872537.
FAO (2017). Incorporating genetic diversity and indicators into statistics and monitoring of farmed aquatic species and their wild relatives.
