Detection of fish species from marine protected areas of the North Sea using environmental <scp>DNA</scp>

This report describe the first application of environmental DNA-metabarcoding approach for the assessment of fish species diversity in two marine protected areas of the North Sea: the Doggerbank and the Sylt Outer Reef. We collected 64 water samples and detected 24 fish species. We discuss qualitative differences between MPAs and compare the results with those obtained from bottom-trawl surveys in the same areas. We found three additional species to those documented in the same year with trawls, including the critically endangered European eel.