Fisheries Consultant

MRAG Ltd
18 Queen St
London W1J 5PN

t: + 44 (0) 20 7255 7787
e: s.martin @ mrag.co.uk
w: www.mrag.co.uk

Research Overview

Key themes: The sustainable exploitation of fish resources, population modelling, marine and freshwater ecology, artisanal fisheries, livelihoods aspects of small-scale fisheries.

Current research

My main research interests lie in the use of social and ecological research to improve fisheries management. I am particularly interested in small-scale fisheries, and have been involved in projects ranging from the south-east Asian fisheries of the Mekong floodplains to the fisheries of the Great African Lakes.

My PhD research focussed on the social and ecological dynamics of small-scale tropical fisheries. In this I used a combination of multivariate statistical methods and population modelling to evaluate the role of abiotic factors and biotic interactions in shaping multispecies fish communities, and the effect of increasing fishing pressure on these assemblages. Floodplain fisheries are exploited by numerous gear types, and a key part of this research involved challenging unjustified negative assumptions associated with one particular fishing method, dewatering, based on empirical ecological analyses in conjunction with a greater understanding of the social context in which fishing takes place.

I am interested in the linkages between asset wealth, fishing and diversification in rural livelihoods, specifically the motivations for and types of livelihood diversification and how these influence fishing activities. This has included investigation into the interdependencies between fishing and rice farming and the effects of resource fluctuations on fisher behaviour and the implications of this for the poor and vulnerable.

Brief CV

2010 – present: Visiting Researcher at Imperial College and Fisheries Consultant at MRAG Ltd.
2010: Project researcher and rapporteur. EU project TXOTX, facilitating a coherent approach towards research directed at the assessment and management of fish resources where the European fleet is fishing in international or third country waters.
2006 – 2010:  PhD ‘An integrated analysis of tropical multispecies fisheries’, Imperial College, London.
2005 – 2006:  MSc by research in Environmental Technology (Distinction). University of Hull. Research project: A review of the fisheries management of four African Lakes: Victoria, Tanganyika, Malawi and Kariba.
2001 – 2005: BSc in Oceanography with Marine Biology (First Class, Dean’s list). National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton.
2004: Sandwich year. Research experience in deep sea polychaete taxonomy Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai’i.

Publications

Martin, S., Lorenzen, K., Arthur, R.I., Kaisone, P. & Souvannalangsy, K.., 2011. Impacts of dewatering on fish assemblages of tropical floodplain wetlands: a matter of frequency and context. Biological Conservation. 144: 633-640.

Bjorndal, T. and Martin, S., 2007. The Relevance of Bioeconomic Modelling to RFMO Resources: A Survey of the Literature. Recommended Best Practices for Regional Fisheries Management Organizations: Technical Study No.3. Chatham House (pdf)