Harnessing environmental DNA: revolutionizing holistic monitoring of aquatic biodiversity for fishery management under the One Health framework

Abstract

Fishery resources are among the most economically valuable assets from aquatic ecosystems, underpinning global food security, nutrition, and livelihoods. However, their sustainable management is increasingly challenged by anthropogenic pressures, including overexploitation, and pollution, which not only deplete stocks, but also compromise the health of human and aquatic organism. In this context, the One Health framework, an integrated approach recognizing the interdependence of human, aquatic organism, and environmental health, provides a critical lens for fisheries governance to ensure long-term resource sustainability. It calls for coordinated surveillance of biological and environmental indicators across trophic levels to anticipate and mitigate risks such as pathogen emergence, biodiversity loss, and fishery resource depletion. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a promising exploratory tool in fisheries science and aquatic ecology, offering a non-invasive and system-wide monitoring mean to detect presence and composition of cross-domain organisms (from microbes to aquatic animals) and even inferring relative or absolute abundance. Its ability to simultaneously interrogate multiple components of the aquatic biosphere aligns uniquely with the multisectoral objectives of One Health. As such, eDNA functions not as a standalone solution, but as a synergistic component within integrated assessment frameworks that link ecosystem status, fishery productivity, and public health outcomes. Nonetheless, methodological challenges remain, particularly in designing primers, expanding and curating reference databases, standardizing sampling and bioinformatic protocols, and developing robust quantitative models translating eDNA signals into actionable stock or risk assessments. This review critically examines the applications, limitations, and future trajectories of eDNA technology in fisheries science through the lens of One Health, with emphasis on its potential to inform cross-scale, interdisciplinary strategies for sustainable fishery management.