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	Capricorn Fisheries Monitoring cc (CapFish cc)	South Africa	Fisheries specialist based in Cape Town, South Africa. Wworks extensively in the African and Indian ocean regions. Undertakes fisheries project management development with the World Bank and FAO. Specializes in demersal, pelagic and SSF, and is an MSC-certified assessor for principles 2 and 3. English-speaking with knowledge of regional african languages and culture.
Duncan Leadbitter	Fish Matter Pty Ltd.	Australia	Sustainability assessment, policy development. Primarily Asia and Australaisa/Pacific fisheries. MSC pre-assessments, FIPs and peer reviews, policy documents. Habitats, ecosystems and ETP species, multispecies fisheries.
Fiona Nimmo	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	United Kingdom	Principle 2 assessor - full and pre assessments, and FIPs across UK, Europe, Iceland and Asia. Worked across a range of species, (pelagic and demersal finfish and shellfish), and a range of gears (dredge, trawl, traps, gill nets) including complex multi-UoA assessments. Fisheries management, environmental interactions, environmental assessments and sustainable development.
Graeme MacFadyen	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	Switzerland	Fisheries resource assessment, marine fisheries development, resource survey, fisheries development policy and strategic planning. Worldwide experience. Team Leader. Groundfish, HMS, P1.
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	MSC qualified for Principle 1 - tuna and invertebrates, Principle 2 - all fisheries; global experience of MSC work since 2007 and FIPs since 2014; English and French.
Kevin Stokes	Independent consultant	New Zealand	Worked on and managed projects spanning a wide range of species and geographical areas. Experise across all MSC Principle Areas and has worked extensively with multiple CABs and the MSC. Experience spans science and management with government, industry and NGOs. Experience working with government and industry and in multi-stakeholder settings.
Paul Medley	Independent fisheries scientist	United Kingdom	Mainly Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific Ocean working on tropical developing country fisheries. Primarily involved in Principle 1, but undertake work related to all three principles. Have undertaken FIPs, and have had the lead role in conducting stock assessments and advising on harvest strategies. Worked on a wide variety of pelagic, demersal and shellfish fisheries.
Richard Banks	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	Australia	South Asia, East Asia - Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands. Undertaken assessments and FIPs in tuna, shrimp trawl, snapper, grouper, blue swimming crab, clams, oysters, orange roughy and small pelagics. Qualified Team Leader ISO 9001, P3 specialist and qualified in the RBF. English speaker, working knowledge of French.
Rich Lincoln	Ocean Outcomes (O2)	USA	Diverse experience in a wide range of jurisdictions, species and geographies: marine and freshwater fisheries management, research, policy, third-party certification, fishery assessments, and fishery improvement gap analyses, work plan design and detailed project management. Extensive experience with technical oversight, client support and stakeholder engagement for MSC fishery standard and assessments.
Rob Blyth-Skyrme	Ichthys Marine Ecological Consulting Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fisheries science, management and policy specialist, and a very experienced MSC assessor covering assessments and pre-assessments for groundfish, shellfish, HMS and freshwater species, globally. MSC Capacity Building Trainer who delivered training in India and South Africa recently (in English), and a long-standing member of the MSC's Peer Review College.
Rod Cappell	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	United Kingdom	Over 12 years experience in MSC assessment as a team leader and P3 expert. Experienced in the use of the RBF. Part of assessment teams, often as team leader, for 20 certified fisheries and pre-assessments of demersal, pelagic, shellfish and enhanced bivalve fisheries throughout Europe and further afield. Also working with FIPs in the UK, Europe and China.
Tim Huntington	Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd.	United Kingdom	Fisheries biologist with world-wide experience. Mainly focused on P2 and P3. Can assist with pre-assessments, FIPs, full assessments and surveillance audits. Main interests are in tuna and groundfish, but interested in all fisheries. English mother tongue (no other working languages).
Tristan Southall	Inmara Ltd.	United Kingdom	Experienced MSC assessor (P3 and P2) and fisheries consultant. MSC assessments in Europe, Africa, central America on wide variety of fisheries. Involved in developing MSC project pre-assessment (projects in UK, EU, Australia, Japan). Experienced with Risk-based framework. Regularly teaches on MSC capacity building courses. Based in Scotland. Fluent in English. Reasonable conversational French.
Rob Wakeford	MRAG Ltd.	United Kingdom	Expertise in fisheries science and management. Wide geographic experience in Caribbean, Africa and SE Asian countries. Species: lobster, conch, sea cucumber and complex multi-species fish fisheries. Team leader for FIPs, scoping documents and action plans; annual FIP reviews, full MSC assessments and annual surveillance audits. Specialist area is Principle 1.
Sophie des Clers	Greenfisher Consultants	France	Fisheries public and business policy, economics and management. Experienced project identification, monitoring and evaluation Team Leader and Team member. MSC pre-evaluations, FIP, certification and surveillance audits, specialising in Principle 3 (Fisheries governance and management systems) since 2008. MSC Level 3 French-speaking Trainer since 2019. Fluent English and French, good understanding of Spanish.
Vineetha Aravind	Independent consultant	India	Consultant, 4.5 years of research experience in mariculture in India. Experienced in teaching and facilitation techniques. MSC Level 3 CBT in 2018 and Fishery Team Leader course in 2019. MSC pre-assessment in Kerala State, and coordinating FIPs for several species, including Karrakadi shrimp, Poovalan shrimp, octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Advisor for Blue swimming crab FIP in India.
Jose Peiro Crespo	Naunet Fisheries Consultants	United Kingdom	Marine biologist, experience in Europe, Northwest Africa, East Africa, Indian Ocean, Canada, USA, South America. Project management. P1, P2, ETP species, fisheries management and seafood market access. Cephalopod and tuna fisheries. Working languages: Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, English, French. Member of MSC peer-review college.
Jocelyn Drugan	Ocean Outcomes	USA	Extensive experience in fisheries, biology, seafood, policy and conservation. Strong track record developing/conducting environmental assessments and providing technical support for FIPs. Regional experience spans countries across northeast Asia and the Americas. Performance with economically important species (salmon, tunas, bivalves, squid, crab, etc.). Languages: English, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese.
Johanna Pierre	JPEC Ltd	New Zealand	Broad experience in fisheries management, regulation and monitoring, including fishery assessments, pre-assessments, peer reviews and surveillance audits in Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand. Focuses on Principles 2 and 3, including trawl, gillnet, longline, pole and line, pot/trap and purse seine fisheries. MSC fishery team member,CoC auditor, member of MSC Peer Review College.
Chrissie Sieben	Independent consultant	United Kingdom	English, French and Dutch speaking consultant with expertise in analysis of fisheries ecosystem impacts and management of tuna, small pelagic and demersal fisheries worldwide for full assessments and FIPs. Skilled project manager, MSC Team leader and Principle 2 assessor and former MSC fisheries scheme manager for Control Union UK Ltd.
Peter Trott	Director, FishListic	Australia	20 years experience in fisheries management, resource sharing, ecosystem principles, project management, seafood markets, supply chains and traceability. MSC CoC, P2, P3, RBF, team-leader, program manager. SA8000 social auditor, ISO19011-2018 accredited. Expertise in pre and full assessment, gap analysis, audits, standards development. MSC fishery certifications in Australia, New Zealand, SE Asia, Indiopacific Ocean, Brazil, Japan, South Korea.
Kat Collinson	Fisheries consultant, Key Traceability	United Kingdom	MSC Chain of Custody auditor since 2011. MSC fisheries assessor since 2012. MSC pre- and full assessments, team leader, P2 assessor. Including tuna in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, bivalves in Europe and Vietnam, and small pelagics and demersal whitefish in Europe and Bahamas spiny lobster fishery.
Yoko Tamura	Global Marine Consulting	Japan	Full and pre-assessments, surveillances of Japanese coastal fisheries. P2, P3. MSC-ASC seaweed certification. Ecosystem management and policy analysis, community-based coastal management in Asia, SE Asia, Latin America, North America, Ghana, Spain. Experience with tuna, skipjack, oyster, crab, lobster, sardine, bivalves fisheries using longline, pole and line, set-net, purse seine, hanging culture and other artisanal fisheries. English, Japanese, some Spanish.
Randolph Ericksen	RP Ericksen Consulting	United States	Has 35 years of experience in fish stock assessments, fisheries management and international fisheries sustainability. Has worked with salmon, groundfish and shellfish fisheries in North America and Russia. Has experience conducting MSC pre-assessments and providing technical advice and support for credible FIPs. Native language is English.
Gladys Okemwa	Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute	Kenya	Gladys has over 25 years of experience in fisheries research, management and conservation focusing on fisheries biology and ecology, fisheries management, policy development both nationally and regionally. She is also interested in threatened and endangered species that interact with fisheries.
Carola Kirchner	Independent Fisheries Consultant	Namibia	Fisheries management and stock assessment experience in tuna, deep-water, demersal, midwater and pelagic species. Based in Namibia. Western Central Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean. Work as a national project coordinator (Climate Change project). All fish species and all types of fisheries.
Stewart Norman	Capricorn Marine Environmental Ltd	South Africa	MD and fisheries observer program manager for CapMarine in South Africa. Project Management experience with tuna-tagging studies and observer training programs with ICCAT and IOTC. Experience working with African government fishery authorities, industry and NGOs. MSc in tuna ecology and MSC Principle 2 assessor specializing in tuna pole & line and longline fisheries.
Mohamed Samy Kamal	Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante	Spain	Fisheries scientist with experience on evaluation of management measures applied to fisheries. Fisheries management especially multi-species, demersal fisheries of Mediterranean Sea, trawl selectivity, Red Sea fisheries and MPAs. Also has experience as MSC P3 assessor in many assessments in Russia and Estonia.

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
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.
Samuel Peacock	RS Standards	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. Particular focus in reduction / small pelagic fisheries.
Ernesto Godelman	CeDePesca	Panama	Specialist in marine fisheries management and research, consulting experience. Development of FIPs since 2007 in Latin America, Caribbean, SE Asia. Pre-assessments, project coordination, use of MSC tools, RBF. Founder and chairman of FIP runner organization CeDePesca. Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese.
Stuart Green	BlueGreen Advisors	United Kingdom	Marine science and policy, > 25 years of technical and scientific experience, SSF management work, residency in the Asia-Pacific region. Covered most commercial and food security fisheries across the tropical ecosystem (mollusk, invertebrate, coral reef fisheries, offshore fisheries, small pelagics, tunas). Governance systems from the community to national policy, more inclined towards P3. Cross-cultural work in all SE Asia cultures. Filipino, basic Indonesian, English languages.
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. Graduated in Fisheries Engineering, role includes building partnerships with government agencies, universities, fishermen, fishing industries and NGOs interested in achieving the sustainability of lobster fishing. Develop, implement and monitor fisheries improvement projects. Fluent in Portuguese and intermediate Spanish.
Pablo Álvares Morales	ProNanatura Noroeste A.C.	Mexico	Mexico northwest coast. Barred Sand Bass, Chocolate Clam, Mixed-finfish fishery, Octopus, Red Rock Lobster, Red Sea Urchin, and White Snook. FIPs coordinator; all these FIPs are pre-assessed with MSC standard and two of them with the main objetive to be certified. Fishing community development, natural resource management, land planning. Spanish (native) and English languages.
Minerva Alonso	CeDePesca	Mexico	Mexican fisheries. Project manager for grouper, blue crab and geoduck FIPs and projects including its implementation. Worked mainly in artisanal fisheries with MSC requirements on Principles 2 and 3. Fully bilingual (English and Spanish).
Grazzia Matamoros	Independent Consultant	Sweden	Marine sustainability consultant with experience in fisheries management and marine conservation in Central America and Sweden. Coordination, planning, and implementation of FIPs (species: Caribbean spiny lobster – Panulirus argus – artisanal and industrial fisheries). Expertise in effective fisheries management. Fluent in Spanish, English and Swedish.
Nicolás Rovegno	Independent Consultant	Perú	English, French and Dutch speaking consultant with expertise in analysis of fisheries ecosystem impacts and management of tuna, small pelagic and demersal fisheries worldwide for full assessments and FIPs. Skilled project manager, MSC Team leader and Principle 2 assessor and former MSC fisheries scheme manager for Control Union UK Ltd.
Makoto Suzuki	Independent consultant, Japan Fisheries Certification Support	Japan	Involved in MSC and FIP projects in Japan, MSC P2 auditor, FIP provider, member of a fishery client. Extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of fisheries, from tuna fishing to seaweed farming, from pole and line fishing and oyster farming single line fishing to larger scale purse seine fisheries. Japanese speaker, fluent English, basic Chinese.
Mark Soboil	EcoWB.org	USA	Works with SSF and fishing communities to become more sustainable and profitable. Specializes in FIPs to improve SSF. Technical assessments of fishery status; prescribed actions to improve the efficiency, economic viability, and sustainability of that fishery; and training and support in implementing those actions. Seafood traceability and transparency in tradeable quota markets. Micronesia, New Zealand.
Kenneth Hutchings	Anchor Environmental Consultants	South Africa	Has 20 years experience in Africa. Project management of fishery and aquaculture projects, life-history analyses, stock status, observer programs, socio-economic assessments. Hand (abalone), line (multi species), pole (tuna), gill net (mullet and sharks), beach seine (multispecies), trap (rock lobster), longline (demersal hake), trawl (demersal hake and bycatch) and purse-seine (Clupeids). English and Afrikaans and has working knowledge of IsiXhosa.
Francisco Fernández	Comunidad y Biodiversidad A.C. (COBI)	Mexico	Has over 15 years of experience in developing and implementing projects for marine conservation and sustainable fisheries in Mexico. Has been involved in the implementation of FIPs (preassessment and workplan) and improvements for clams, penshell, squid, and finfish fisheries. Fluent in Spanish and English.
Bernado Sanchez	EcoWB	Mexico	Marine Biologist with a MSc in Marine Resources Management. Since 2009 he has worked on marine conservation and sustainable fishery projects, related to small scale finfish fisheries (including shark and rays) and fishers’ communities. Focused in the Mexican Pacific. Sustainable fisheries, data collection and analysis, capacity building, and implementation of sustainability standards.
Elisabeth Day	Independent consultant	Madagascar	Liz has close to six years experience in working on fisheries governance projects. Including in depth analysis of fisheries legal frameworks of West African coastal and flag states operating within these in order to combat IUU. She spearheaded the development of an octopus FIP in South West Madagascar.
Raul Lara	Instituto Nacional de Pesca y Acuacultura (INAPESCA)	Mexico	Expertise in fishery stock assessments in the Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Pacific, develops research on biology, fisheries, ecological risk analysis, population dynamics and management. He has worked in different institutions (government, academy and NGOs) to develop fishery management plans.
Ivan Tovar	Ocean Outcomes	USA	Involved in projects to improve sustainable fisheries, field work onboard shrimp trawlers, SSF vessels and research vessels, implementation of improvement plans in SSF in Mexico. Supporting the creation of improvement plans following the MSC standard. Rapid assessments in fisheries in Latin America and a Suriname fishery. Supervision of correct performance of Ocean Outcomes’ FIPs around the world.
Ernesto Gastelum	Comunidad y Biodiversidad A.C. (COBI)	Mexico	For the last 7 years, I have been responsible for two Fishery Improvement Projects (FIP), integrating tools for conservation and management of the clams’ fishery in Puerto Libertad. I have also participated in the establishment of marine reserves and no-take fishing zones; as well as in Integrated coastal management for the use and recovery of penshell (Atrina tuberculosa) in the Midriff Islands Region, Gulf of California.

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.