Technical Consultants

Our technical consultants register lists experts who can provide services to fisheries as they work towards meeting the MSC Fisheries Standard.

What is the technical consultants register?

Our technical consultants register lists experts who understand the requirements of the MSC Fisheries Standard. They can help with:

Conducting a gap analysis of fishery performance against the Fisheries Standard
Developing and assisting in the implementation of a fisheries improvement action plan
Managing MSC assessments or liaising between the fishery and certification body.

Individuals in the register are listed as either a technical consultant or associate technical consultant. Technical consultants have a greater level of practical experience in the application of the MSC Fisheries Standard from participating in MSC assessments or surveillance audits. Associate technical consultants have completed comprehensive training in the MSC Fisheries Standard but have not been part of an assessment team.

Find a technical consultant

Name/email	Organisation	Country	Description of experience
David Japp	CapFish	South Africa	African and developing country fisheries. Projects include Kenya. Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa.
Duncan Leadbitter	Fish Matter Pty Ltd.	Australia	Sustainability assessment, policy development, experience in Asia Pacific countries fisheries.
Fiona Nimmo	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fisheries management, environmental interactions, environmental assessments and sustainable development. Experience in European and Asian fisheries.
Graeme MacFadyen	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	Switzerland	Fisheries policy, management, MCS/IUU, economics, trade/marketing, value-chains, evaluation. Experience in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and Americas.
Graeme Parkes	MRAG Americas	USA	Fisheries resource assessment, marine fisheries development, resource survey, fisheries development policy and strategic planning.
Jo Gascoigne	Independent consultant	United Kingdom	Fisheries consultant, specialising in fisheries assessment and management, management of shellfish resources and culture and environmental and ecological studies relating to fisheries.
Kevin Stokes	Independent consultant	New Zealand	Wide ranging fisheries science, management, policy and governance. Experience working with government and industry and in multi-stakeholder settings.
Paul Medley	Nautilus Consultants	United Kingdom	Fisheries stock assessment, specialisation in tropical small-scale fisheries, data collection and scientific management advice.
Richard Banks	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	Australia	Governance, fisheries policy and management, compliance, bycatch management, harvest strategies, rules and tools. Specialises in Australia, Pacific, all ASEAN countries, South Asia, China and New Zealand.
Rich Lincoln	Ocean Outcomes (O2)	USA	Diverse experience in fisheries management, research, policy, third-party certification, fishery assessments, and fishery improvement gap analyses and work plan design/consulting - in a wide range of jurisdictions, species and geographies.
Rob Blyth-Skyrme	Ichthys Marine Ecological Consulting Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fisheries science, management and policy specialist with experience in North America and Europe.
Rod Cappell	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fisheries policy, economics and sustainable development. Experience in European, Asian and Middle Eastern fisheries.
Tim Huntington	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	United Kingdom	Specialist in environmental interactions with fisheries (bycatch and discards, ETP, habitats and trophic changes) in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Particular experience with tuna, groundfish and shrimp fisheries.
Tristan Southall	Inmara Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fishery policy analysis and marine consultancy.
Rob Wakeford	MRAG Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fisheries management and policy, stock assessment, environmental impacts and programme management. Experience of high latitude and tropical ecosystems, including small-scale multi-species fisheries and industrial fisheries.
Sophie des Clers	Greenfisher Consultants	France	Fisheries public and business policy, economics and management.
Vineetha Aravind	Independent consultant	India	Consultant with 4.5 years of research experience in mariculture in India. Experienced in teaching and facilitation techniques. Successfully completed MSC Level 3 Capacity Building Training in 2018. Participated in MSC pre-assessment in Kerala State, and coordinating a fisheries improvement project for several species, including Karrakadi shrimp, Poovalan shrimp, octopus, squid and cuttlefish.
Jose Peiro Crespo	Naunet Fisheries Consultants	United Kingdom	A marine biologist with postgraduate degrees in international development and statistics (data collection and analysis). Responsible for planning, design, execution, monitoring and evaluation of all the projects at Naunet Fisheries Consultants, a marine consultancy firm based in Norwich (UK). Specialist in: environmental impacts of fisheries on bycatch and ETP species, habitats and ecosystem; fisheries management and seafood market access. > 10 years of project experience in Europe, Africa, South and East Asia, and the Americas. Specific experience with cephalopod and finfish fisheries in the North Sea, Western approaches, Mediterranean Sea, South American waters and the Indian Ocean. Working languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English (mother tongue: Catalan). Member of MSC peer-review college.
Jocelyn Drugan	Ocean Outcomes	USA	Experienced researcher in ecology and population dynamics of salmon and groundfish. Experience as a fishery management analyst conducting fishery evaluations and supporting the implementation of fishery improvement projects. Ocean Outcomes is dedicated to improving high risk fisheries that face the toughest sustainability issues and have the most to gain from improvements.
Johanna Pierre	JPEC Ltd	New Zealand	Work includes research, management, and policy focused on sustainability, traceability, and the environmental effects of fishing. Experienced with MSC pre- and full assessments, peer reviews and surveillance audits. Certified MSC fishery team member, team leader, Chain of Custody auditor, and Peer Review College member.
Chrissie Sieben	Independent consultant	United Kingdom	English, French and Dutch speaking fisheries sustainability consultant with expertise in fisheries ecosystem impacts and management. Focus on tuna fisheries worldwide, and European small pelagic and demersal fisheries.
Peter Trott	Director, FishListic	Australia	20 years’ experience in fisheries management, resource sharing, ecosystem principles, project management, seafood markets and retailer partnerships, brand owners, supply chains, traceability, fisheries, FIPs, risk assessments, stakeholder engagement and consultation. MSC fishery certifications across the globe. MSC CoC auditor, fishery team-member, team-leader and Program Manager.
Kat Collinson	Fisheries consultant, Key Traceability	United Kingdom	MSC Chain of Custody (since 2011) and fisheries assessor since 2012). MSC pre- and full assessments as team leader and Principle 2 assessor. Fisheries experience on tuna and swordfish (Pacific and Indian Ocean), bivalves (Europe and Vietnam), and small pelagics and demersal whitefish (Europe) and Bahamian lobsters. FIPs in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean.
Yoko Tamura	Global Marine Consulting	Japan	Yoko participated as a MSC assessment member from Japan’s 1st MSC certified fishery, Kyoto Danish Seine Flatfish Fishery Re-assessment with subsequent surveillances. She has subsequently taken part in numerous full and pre-assessments of Japanese coastal fisheries. Yoko also has also worked as a consultant for Euglena Co. to help them gain the world-first MSC-ASC seaweed certification and has worked as an auditor for Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP.
Randolph Ericksen	RP Ericksen Consulting	United States	Randy has 35 years of experience in fish stock assessments, fisheries management and international fisheries sustainability. He specializes in providing technical support to fisheries that are interested in entering FIPs and/or being assessed against the MSC standard.

Associate technical consultants

An associate technical consultant has had comprehensive training, but has not been part of a full MSC assessment or surveillance team.

Name/email	Organisation	Country	Description of experience
Carola Kirchner	Independent Fisheries Consultant	Namibia	Fisheries management and stock assessment experience in tuna, deep-water, demersal, midwater and pelagic species. Based in Namibia.
Patricia Livingston	Ecologists Without Borders	USA	Fisheries ecologist with extensive experience in ecosystem modelling, developing data sampling programs and provision of scientific advice. Ecologists Without Borders is a non-profit organisation that is able to offer free technical support to FIPs that are financially unable to afford the typical consultancy fees. Based in the USA.
Stewart Norman	CapMarine Ltd.	South Africa	Fisheries management analyst in African fisheries. Experience working with government, industry and RFMOs. Specialist in tuna ecology and genetics. Experience with data collection and scientific management advice and supporting the implementation of fishery improvement projects.
Samuel Peacock	Independent	United Kingdom	Fisheries certification consultant with experience in Europe, North and South America, and South-East Asia. Involved in certification projects at all levels of the fisheries supply chain.
Ernesto Godelman	CeDePesca	Panama	Specialist in marine fisheries management in Latin America with past consulting experience working for several non-governmental organisations. Participated in several pre-assessments and involved in project technical coordination and the use of MSC pre-assessment tools and RBF. Founder and chairman of CeDePesca. CeDePesca is involved in investigating, training, and promoting alternative approaches that contribute to the achievement of sustainable fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mohamed Samy Kamal	Independent consultant	Spain	A fisheries scientist, Dr Samy Kamal's PhD thesis focused on the evaluation of some management measures applied to the trawl fishery in the western Mediterranean. His main research areas are fisheries management, especially mixed species fisheries, the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU, trawl selectivity, spatial modelling (using GIS tools), fisheries documentation, the demersal fisheries of the Mediterranean Sea, the fisheries and the marine protected areas of the Red Sea.
Stuart Green	BlueGreen Advisors	United Kingdom	A lead marine conservation and fisheries practitioner that has worked for over 25 years across most countries of the Asia-Pacific, Melanesia and Micronesia and the broader Pacific with communities, local and national governments, and industry on demersal, small and large pelagic, marine ornamental and crustacean fisheries. Focal areas range from developing data limited stock assessments, engaging stakeholders and management planning and governance through to enforcement, policy and capability building.
Carmen Guerrero Azañedo	Centro Desarrollo y Pesca Sustentable (CeDePesca)	Peru	Qualified environmental lawyer with 10 years of experience as Director of CeDePesca in Peru. Focused on sustainable fisheries management with an ecosystem-based approach and fisheries improvement projects. Holds Postgraduate degree in extrajudicial conciliation, negotiation, mediation and facilitation of social conflicts. Specialization studies in socio-environmental conflict resolution, and works developed in governance, political and public management.
Rochelle Cruz	CeDePesca	Brazil	Director of CeDePesca in Brazil, promoting the organisation as a benchmark in the area of fishing sustainability.Role includes building partnerships with government agencies, universities, fishermen, fishing industries and NGOs interested in achieving the sustainability of lobster fishing. Technical assistance to stakeholders in implementing best management, research and fisheries practices, promoting transparency in data and procedures for the management and using fisheries science as a basis for achieving sustainability, including artisanal fisheries and fish farms. Develop, implement and monitor fisheries improvement projects. Experience in supply chain verification and preparing a fishery for MSC full assessment.
Pablo Álvares Morales	ProNanatura Noroeste A.C.	Mexico	A fisheries Improvement coordinator based in Mexico, specialising in fishing community development, natural resource management and land planning. Holds PhD in environment and planning.
Minerva Alonso	CeDePesca	Mexico	Director of CeDePesca in Mexico. Holds postgraduate degree in Marine Resource Management. Experience as consultant in seafood safety (HACCP) and quality control systems, environmental issues and marine ecology, and promotion of sustainable seafood programs with the local fishing industry. Coordinated improvement projects and market development for fisheries in Mexico, including octopus and grouper.
Grazzia Matamoros	Independent Consultant	Sweden	A fisheries management and marine sustainability consultant with experience in fisheries management and marine conservation in Central America and the Caribbean. Coordination, planning, and implementation of fishery improvement projects. Work experience in local and international organizations and in acting as a liaison with government authorities and other stakeholders. Based in Sweden, with Honduran nationality.
Nicolás Rovegno	WWF Peru	Perú	Peruvian fisheries engineer and Masters in Marine Science candidate. Has experience working at NGOs, as an onboard observer, and fisheries consultant. Has been involved with artisanal fisheries, traceability, FIPs, training and capacity building for fishers, among others. Fluent in Spanish and English.
Makoto Suzuki	Independent consultant, Japan Fisheries Certification Support	Japan	Diverse experience on MSC pre-assessments and full assessments in Japan including tuna fisheries, reduction fisheries, mixed fisheries, small-scale fisheries, bivalve fisheries, and seaweed fisheries/farms. Long experience on seafood supply chain in Japan.
Mark Soboil	Marine Economic Development	USA	Mark has a Ph.D. in Fisheries Economics and works as an independent fisheries consultant on alternative livelihood and value add projects; as well as empowering small-scale fishing communities, and other projects involved with provenance and seafood traceability, fishing aggregation devices, and transparency in tradeable quota markets. He also works with fishing companies on developmental fisheries, quota acquisitions and trade, seafood market studies, Fisheries Improvement Plans; as well as with Fishery Associations providing policy and fisheries management advice.
Kenneth Hutchings	Anchor Environmental Consultants	South Africa	Dr Hutchings has more than 20 years of research and consulting experience in the fields of fisheries management, fishery socioeconomic surveys and analyses, biological sampling and life history analyses of fish, taxonomic methodology, population genetics and fisheries modelling. He has practical experience in several fishing sectors and has good understanding of most commercial fishing methods.
Francisco Fernández	Comunidad y Biodiversidad A.C. (COBI)	Mexico	Francisco has 15 years experience developing and implementing projects for sustainable fisheries management in collaboration with rural communities, authorities and ngos. He has an extensive knowledge and experience with Mexican fisheries management tools and possess solid skills in building capacity in fishermen, college students and managers in traditional and non-traditional settings.

Technical consultants register disclaimer

This information is provided as a resource only; the inclusion of individuals or organisations in this list does not constitute endorsement by the MSC or by Assurance Services International (ASI). MSC includes consultants in this list upon receiving statements of experience provided by consultants, where such experience at face value meets the requirements outlined in the MSC's Technical Consultants Requirement document, where such consultants have signed up to the Code of Good Practice and where such consultants have provided references satisfactory to the MSC.

The MSC does not carry out further checks to ascertain the expertise of such consultants. Anyone engaging a consultant from this list must satisfy themselves that the consultant is suitable for their particular purpose. Neither the MSC nor ASI accepts any duty of care to anyone using this list. Neither MSC nor ASI will have any liability to any party in respect of performance or suitability of any consultant or in relation to any failure by a consultant to adhere to the Code of Good Practice. Consultants provide Fisheries Improvement services as independent contractors.

How do I become a technical consultant?

If you are a fisheries expert with experience in implementing fishery improvements, you may be eligible to apply to be listed on the MSC technical consultants register.

Depending on your level of practical experience in the application of the MSC Fisheries Standard, you will be listed as either a full or associate consultant.

Can I apply?

To apply to be listed as a technical consultant you should either have:

• a degree in fisheries, marine conservation biology or a related field, or
• at least 3 years’ experience in marine conservation biology, fisheries, natural resources or environmental management.

The academic and/or work experience should cover at least one of the following areas of fishery expertise:

• fish stock assessment
• biology/ecology
• fishing impacts on aquatic ecosystems
• fishery management and operations.

You must demonstrate an excellent understanding of the MSC Fisheries Standard and provide evidence of experience in stakeholder facilitation and project management. Applicants must provide a log of fisheries related project work over the last 3 years.

All applications are subject to review by internal and external expert panels.

How can I apply?

If you're interested in applying please read the full requirements and guidance. If you meet the eligibility criteria and would like to submit an application, please email the Global Accessibility team.