Fisheries Development Oversight Committee

Sophie Des Clers is an independent scientific expert in fisheries management systems. She holds a PhD in Biometrics and an MSc in Public Policy, and has over 30 years' experience in the formulation, monitoring, and evaluation of fisheries and aquaculture projects to build management capacity in the public and the private sector. Sophie is trained in databases, applied statistics, population dynamics, economics, law and public policy. Her past research and consultancy projects have taken her to fishing ports around the EU, UK, Norway, Africa, the North Sea, Mediterranean, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and the Caribbean.

Sophie is a qualified MSC auditor (v2.0) and member of the MSC peer review college. She also has delivered MSC auditors’ training workshops in French speaking countries. Since 1998, Sophie has been involved as Team lead or Team member in numerous MSC assessments and pre-assessments responsible for Principle 3 (Governance and management) including herring, blue whiting, sardine, cod, haddock, saithe, sole, lobster, shrimp and whelks, and tuna and billfish fisheries.

Stella Bartolini Cavicchi is a Marine Policy Advisor at OceanMind and uses policy expertise to improve ocean conservation and sustainable use. Stella has a master’s degree from SOAS (University of London) on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development, where she researched the application of an ecosystem approach to high seas fisheries, and a diploma from the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea. Stella has over 10 years of experience of working on ocean governance, fisheries management and international environmental agreements and processes from many different angles: in a regional UN organisation, an RFMO, a national government, a research institute, a think-tank, a non-profit organisation and as an independent policy consultant.

Francisco has been with MarinTrust, the leading Certification Program for Marine Ingredients, from its early development within IFFO (the marine ingredients organisation), to becoming the CEO of MarinTrust in 2020. With over 15 years of experience in the food sector, specialising in marine ingredients, Francisco has unique expertise in responsible sourcing, sustainable production practices, and digital traceability in the marine ingredient supply chain. This expertise in traceability led him to join the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) Supervisory Board, while also contributing to the Technical Committee shaping the GSA Seafood Processing Standard. Since 2014, Francisco has also been focused on fisheries for reduction in South East Asia and Latin America through the MarinTrust Improver Programme, resulting in positive changes at the legislative level of previously struggling fisheries. All of this is part of his overall mission of cementing the future of marine ingredients as vital and sustainable sources of nutrition for the world.

Francisco holds a MSc in Fisheries Engineering from UNALM (Peru) and a MSc in Marine Ecology and Environmental Management from Queen Mary University (London).

Jose Peiro Crespo is a marine biologist with more than 15 years of experience working in fisheries. During his career, he has worked as a fisheries observer, marine researcher, quality control auditor for aquaculture farms, EIA consultant for offshore windfarms, and fisheries and aquaculture consultant. He currently runs his own marine consultancy, Naunet Fisheries Consultants, where he has overall responsibility for the planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of all the projects. Jose works for the fishing industry, NGOs, government bodies and other marine stakeholders conducting fisheries assessments, providing advice on the sustainable use of marine resources and developing initiatives to improve living conditions in coastal communities in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.

Pedro is a fisheries scientist with over twenty years of experience working on fish population dynamics, recreational and commercial fisheries governance, and seafood sustainability standards. He currently heads the science, data and analysis programme of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s (SFP) Monitoring and Evaluation Unit. SFP is a non for profit focused on engaging and catalyzing global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks globally and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming. In recent years, part of Pedro’s work has been focused on research and data analysis related to SFP’s Target 75 initiative, which aims at ensuring 75% of world production in key sectors is – at a minimum – either sustainable (i.e., certified by the MSC program, or green-listed in SFP’s Metrics tool) or making regular, verifiable improvements. Pedro is the project leader of the Fishery Improvement Projects Database (FIP-DB), which is maintained by the Hilborn lab at the University of Washington (UW) and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP). Pedro is also a permanent member of the ICES Working Group on Recreational Fisheries Surveys (WGRFS) and in the data committee of the Certifications and Ratings collaboration.

Polly’s background is mainly focussed on seafood certification schemes and has been a member of the FDOC since 2021.

Polly has a degree in Marine Science from the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, and having grown up in Scotland spent a lot of time by and in the sea. Previous experiences involve research and conservation of salmon on the River Spey, and working with the Scottish aquaculture industry to manage interactions with wild salmon. Polly spent nearly 5 years overseeing the fisheries and aquaculture audits across the seafood supply chain (including MainTrust) at Lloyd’s Register. Polly is now Head of Fisheries Standard Policy at the Marine Stewardship Council where she oversees policy development relating to scheme requirements and processes.

James Hinchcliffe is a dedicated marine scientist with a strong background in sustainable aquaculture. James holds a PhD in biology from University of Gothenburg and an MSc in Sustainable Aquaculture Systems from the University of Plymouth, UK. James’ work has spanned both the academic and industrial sectors, culminating in his current role with Marine Ingredients Denmark and the European Fishmeal and Fish oil producers, where he contributes to the responsible sourcing of fishmeal and fish oil. James is actively involved in fisheries science and certification schemes, working to promote sustainability and support the industry’s growth.