Assessing the elemental fingerprints of cockle shells (Cerastoderma edule) to confirm their geographic origin from regional to international spatial scales

• Main Authors: Ricardo, Fernando, Mamede, Renato, Bruzos, Alicia L., Díaz, Seila, Thébault, Julien, Silva, Eduardo Ferreira Da, Patinha, Carla, Calad, Ricardo
• Other Authors: Department of Biology and CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Spain (USC ), Universidade de Vigo, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Center for GeoBioSciences, GeoTechnologies and GeoEngineering (GEOBIOTEC), CESAM and Department of Biology
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Bivalves; ICP-MS; Traceability; Seafood; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Norway; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-04071800

International audience Geographic origin is directly linked to the quality and commercial value of bivalves. The globalization of the seafoodtrade and the increasing number of fraudulent practices in the bivalves industry has prompted consumers to becomeincreasingly aware on the geographic origin of the seafood they consume. To enhance consumers' confidence andallow authorities to effectively enforce regulations and contain risks that threaten public health, fast and accuratetools must be made available to confirm claims along the trade chain on the geographic origin of bivalves. In the pres-ent study the efficiency of using the elemental fingerprints of a small-homogenized subsample of the shell of commoncockles (Cerastoderma edule) to confirm their harvesting location is evaluated at different spatial scales: i) regional(along the Galician coast (Spain) - Espasante, Barallobre, Rio Anllóns, Camariñas, Muros, Noia, Carril, Grove,Combarro, Placeres, Moaña, and Baiona), ii) national (along the Portuguese coast - Ria de Aveiro, Óbidos lagoon,Tagus estuary, Sado estuary and Ria Formosa), and iii) international (along the Northeast Atlantic coast -Hejeltefjorden (Norway), Nykobing Mors (Denmark), Sylt (Germany), Slikken van Viane (Netherlands), Roscoff(France), Plymouth (England), Swansea (Wales), Ria de Aveiro (Portugal) and Oualidia (Morocco). Results confirmthat elemental fingerprints of bivalve shells are significantly different among locations and that they can be success-fully used with high accuracy to discriminate the geographic origin of cockles at all spatial scales surveyed (97.2%at regional scale, 99.3% at national scale and 100% at international scale). Overall, elemental fingerprints of a small-homogenized subsample of the shell showed to be a replicable, low cost and fast tool to reliably trace the place oforigin of cockles sampled at different spatial scales, with success rate of discrimination directly increasing with dis-tance between collection sites.