e: shelley.clarke @ imperial.ac.uk
t: +81 (0) 547 54 0275 (tel/fax)
Research interests
I am a fisheries scientist interested in developing new methods for assessing whether fish populations are being sustainably exploited. I see a great potential for the use of alternative information sources, such as trade or market-derived data and fishermen’s operational and/or reporting behavior, to provide cross-check estimates of fish catches. Such estimates not only can improve stock assessments involving catch and population production time series but can be used to identify and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. As a resident of Asia for over 16 years, and competent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, I also have a particular interest in this region as home of the world’s most powerful fishing fleets and the largest and fastest-growing seafood markets.
I began studying the shark fin trade in 2000 after six years as a marine science consultant in Hong Kong with Environmental Resources Management, and four years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. After completing my PhD at Imperial College London, I moved into more mainstream fisheries stock assessment science as a post-doctoral researcher and visiting scientist at the National Research Institute for Far Seas Fisheries in Shizuoka, Japan. In my 2.5 years there I worked on stock assessments for blue sharks (Atlantic and north Pacific) and striped marlin (north Pacific) through ICCAT and the International Scientific Committee (ISC). I also participated in a variety of at-sea research projects and fishermen surveys.
As an Imperial College associate researcher, I have undertaken a study comparing the catch of Kamchatka salmon with traded quantities in the markets of Japan, China and Korea; an analysis of illegal fishing activities in the Japanese EEZ; a survey of Chinese fishing and fish processing activities and traceability systems; and review of regional fisheries management organisations’ (RFMOs’) catch documentation schemes. I am currently tracking the implementation of the EC’s IUU regulation in the Asia-Pacific region and working on a study of fishing vessel identification schemes in association with the proposed FAO Global Record of Fishing Vessels. I have been a peer reviewer for the journals Aquatic Living Resources, Biological Conservation, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Geoforum, Journal of Applied Ichthyology, Marine and Coastal Fisheries and Oryx; and have recently been appointed as an editor of Fisheries Science (Springer).
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Activities
• Best practice study of RFMO catch documentation schemes
• Consultant to FAO on a unique vessel identifier for fishing vessels
• Member of the UK delegation briefing China on the EC IUU regulation
• Speaker at Chatham House on IUU Fishing (2007, 2008 and 2009)
• Estimation of quantity and value of illegal fishing in the Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone
• Characterization of illegal fishing for shark and bêche-de-mer in the waters between Australia and Indonesia
Sharks
• Estimates of sharks utilized for the fin trade
• Technical and policy studies of finning regulations and shark handling
• Analysis of shark CPUE and stock assessment
• Socio-economic analysis of the shark fin trade
• DNA-based identification of fins
• IUCN Shark Specialist Group, Executive Committee
East Asian Seafood Trade
• Estimate of actual catch of Kamchatka salmon based on trade records
• China’s role in global fisheries and fish trade
• Study of Chinese luxury dried seafoods
• Marine Stewardship Council Technical Advisory Board member
RFMO Rapporteuring
• Rapporteur for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission at Pohnpei and Guam (2007)
• Rapporteur for the International Scientific Committee at Pusan (2007)
Publications
2009
Clarke, S.C., M.K. McAllister and R.C. Kirkpatrick. 2009. Estimating legal and illegal catches of Russian sockeye salmon from trade and market data. ICES Journal of Marine Science 66(3): 532-545.
Clarke, S. 2009. An alternative estimate of catches of five species of sharks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean based on shark fin trade data. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Scientific Committee Paper SC5/EB-WP-02.
Clarke, S. 2009. Best practice study of fish catch documentation schemes. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Technical and Compliance Committee (see paper TCC5-2009/24 (Rev. 2)).
Kleiber, P, S. Clarke, K. Bigelow, H. Nakano, M. McAllister and Y. Takeuchi. 2009. North Pacific blue shark stock assessment. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Scientific Committee Paper SC5/EB-WP-01.
2008
Clarke, S.C. 2008. Use of shark fin trade data to estimate historic total shark removals in the Atlantic Ocean. Aquatic Living Resources 21(4): 373-381.
Gilman, E., S. Clarke, N. Brothers, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, J. Mandelman, J. Mangel, S. Petersen, S. Piovano, N. Thomson, P. Dalzell, M. Donosol, M. Goren and T. Werner. 2008. Shark interactions in pelagic longline fisheries. Marine Policy 32: 1-18.
Bonfil, R., S. Clarke and H. Nakano. 2008. The biology and ecology of the oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus. pp. 128-139, IN: Sharks of the Open Ocean, M. Camhi, E. Pikitch and E.A. Babcock (eds). Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK.
Dulvy, N.K., J.K. Baum, S. Clarke, L.J.V. Compagno, E. Cortés, A. Domingo, S. Fordham, S. Fowler, M. P. Francis, C. Gibson, J. Martínez, J.A. Musick, A. Soldo, J.S. Stevens and S. Valenti. 2008. You can swim but you can’t hide: the global status and conservation of oceanic pelagic sharks and rays. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 18(5): 459-482.
2007
Chow, S., S. Clarke, M. Nakadate and M. Okazaki. 2007. Boundary between the north and south Atlantic populations of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) inferred by a single nucleotide polymorphism at calmodulin gene intron. Marine Biology 152: 87–93.
Clarke, S. 2007. Trading tails: linkages between Russian salmon fisheries and East Asian markets. TRAFFIC-East Asia, Hong Kong.
Clarke, S. 2007. Sink or swim. Hong Kong South China Morning Post Op-Ed, 25 October.
Clarke, S.C., E.J. Milner-Gulland and T. Bjørndal. 2007. Perspective: Social, economic and regulatory drivers of the shark fin trade. Marine Resource Economics 22: 305-327.
Gilman, E., Clarke, S., Brothers, N., Alfaro-Shigueto-J., Mandelman, J., Mangel, J., Petersen, S., Piovano, S., Thomson, N., Dalzell, P., Donoso, M., Goren, M., Werner, T. 2007. Shark Depredation and Unwanted Bycatch in Pelagic Longline Fisheries: Industry Practices and Attitudes, and Shark Avoidance Strategies. Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, Honolulu, USA.
Hall, M., H. Nakano, S. Clarke, S. Thomas, J. Molloy, S.H. Peckham, J. Laudino-Santillán, W.J. Nichols, E. Gilman, J. Cook, S. Martin, J.P. Croxall, K. Rivera, C. A. Moreno and S.J. Hall. 2007. Working with fishers to reduce by-catches. Pp. 235-288 IN: By-catch Reduction in the World’s Fisheries, S.J. Kennelly (ed.) Springer Verlag, London.
Hareide, N.R., J. Carlson, M. Clarke, S. Clarke, J. Ellis, S. Fordham, S. Fowler, M. Pinho, C. Raymakers, F. Serena, B. Seret, and S. Polti. 2007. European Shark Fisheries: a preliminary investigation into fisheries, conversion factors, trade products, markets and management measures. European Elasmobranch Association.
Magnussen, J.E., E.K. Pikitch, S.C. Clarke, C. Nicholson, A.R. Hoelzel and M.S. Shivji. 2007. Genetic tracking of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) products in international trade. Animal Conservation 10: 199-207.
2006
Clarke, S. 2006. Trade in Shark Products in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In: Report on the Study on Shark Production, Utilization and Management in the ASEAN Region 2003-2004, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Bangkok, Thailand. 229 pp.
Clarke, S.C., M.K. McAllister, E.J. Milner-Gulland, G.P. Kirkwood, C.G.J. Michielsens, D.J. Agnew, E.K. Pikitch, H. Nakano and M.S. Shivji. 2006. Global Estimates of Shark Catches using Trade Records from Commercial Markets. Ecology Letters 9: 1115-1126.
Clarke, S.C., J.E. Magnussen, D.L. Abercrombie, M.K. McAllister and M.S. Shivji. 2006. Identification of Shark Species Composition and Proportion in the Hong Kong Shark Fin Market Based on Molecular Genetics and Trade Records, Conservation Biology 20(1): 201-211.
Nakano, H. and S. Clarke. 2006. Filtering method for obtaining stock indices by shark species from species-combined logbook data in tuna longline fisheries. Fisheries Science 72: 322-332.
2005
Abercrombie, D.L., S.C. Clarke and M.S. Shivji. 2005. Global-scale genetic identification of hammerhead sharks: application to assessment of the international fin trade and law enforcement. Conservation Genetics. 6: 775-788.
Clarke, S., G. H. Burgess, R.D. Cavanagh, G. Crow, S.V. Fordham, M.T. McDavitt, D.A. Rose, M. Smith and C. Simpfendorfer. 2005.. Socio-economic importance of elasmobranchs. pp. 27-55 In: Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras: the Status of the Chondrichthyan Fishes, S.L. Fowler et al. (eds), IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Nakadate, M., J. Viñas, A. Corrieros, S. Clarke, N. Suzuki and S. Chow. 2005. Genetic isolation between Atlantic and Mediterranean albacore (Thunnus alalunga) populations inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers. Journal of Fish Biology 66: 1545-1557.
2004
Clarke, S. 2004. Understanding pressures on fishery resources through trade statistics: a pilot study of four products in the Chinese dried seafood market. Fish and Fisheries 5: 53-74.
Clarke, S. 2004. Shark Product Trade in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and Implementation of the Shark CITES Listings. TRAFFIC East Asia, Hong Kong.
Clarke, S., M. McAllister and C. Michielsens. 2004. Estimates of shark species composition and numbers associated with the shark fin trade based on Hong Kong auction data. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 35: 1-13.
2002 and prior
Shivji, M., S. Clarke, M. Pank, L. Natanson, N. Kohler, and M. Stanhope. 2002. Genetic identification of pelagic shark body-parts for conservation and trade-monitoring. Conservation Biology 16(4): 1036-1047.
Clarke, S. and I. Mosqueira. 2002. A preliminary assessment of European participation in the shark fin trade. Proceedings of the 4th European Elasmobranch Association Meeting, Livorno (Italy), 2000. ICRAM, ARPAT-GEA & Soc. Fr. Ichthyol, 2002: 65-72.
Clarke, S. 2002. Trade in Asian dried seafood: characterization, estimation, and implications for conservation. WCS Working Paper Series 22: 1-92. link
Clarke, S., A.W.Y. Leung, Y.M. Mak, R. Kennish, and N. Haggan. 2002. Consultation with local fishers on the Hong Kong artificial reefs initiative. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59: S171-S77.
Clarke, S., F. Thomas, H.A. Anwar and C. Cook. 1997. Pollution Control in the People’s Republic of China: An Investor’s Guide, London: Environmental Resources Management, 1997. 139 pp. link