Meet the MCS Fisheries Team

Dawn Purchase (Aquaculture Officer)

Dawn’s work covers aquaculture policy and standard development, both in the UK and overseas, and the aquaculture-product assessments for Fishonline and the Good Fish Guide. She is based at the MCS Office in Edinburgh, as Scotland is the heart of UK aquaculture accounting for 90% of UK production, principally from Atlantic salmon farming.
The MCS Aquaculture programme is principally concerned with identifying and reducing the environmental impacts of aquaculture, particularly from fish farming, and promoting best practices in the industry. Dawn’s work has focussed recently on the issue of fishmeal and fish oil inclusion in aquaculture diets (derived from oil-rich pelagic species like anchovy, horse mackerel, blue whiting and sandeel) and promoting both their responsible sourcing, utilization and partial replacement with other non-marine protein types.

Dawn completed a BSc in Geology and Biology at Birmingham University, followed by a MSc in Coastal Zone Management at Bournemouth University.

Dawn is a keen diver and enjoys exploring the marine life around the East Lothian coast where she lives. Dawn also enjoys walking her dog and riding horses along the miles of local beautiful sandy beaches.

David Parker (Fisheries Officer)

David’s role currently involves working with the suppliers and buyers of seafood, including restaurants, suppliers, supermarkets and the public. He is the MCS representative for the Good Catch project (www.goodcatch.org.uk), which has developed a sustainable seafood sourcing guide and regularly hold events for chefs and restaurateurs, including sponsoring the Good Catch Award for sustainable seafood at the National Fish and Chip awards.

David studied Marine Biology at Swansea University and completed a MSc in Environmental Biology (Conservation and Resource Management), specialising in fisheries with a thesis focusing on inshore crab and lobster pot fisheries. David has previously worked with the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee undertaking shellfish discard monitoring work and as a Marine Policy Officer for WWF Cymru.

He’s a keen surfer, sailor, fisherman and of course a great lover and consumer of sustainable seafood.

Bernadette Clarke (Fisheries Officer - Fishonline)

Bernadette recently rejoined MCS after a break of about 4 years and her key responsibilities now are the MCS Fishonline & Good Fish Guide websites and to ensure that MCS assessment advice on fisheries and species sustainability is accurate, up to date and transparent.

She studied for a degree in Marine Studies at University of Wales, College Cardiff and a MSc  in Marine and Fisheries Science at Aberdeen University. She also spent a number of years at sea as a navigating officer and obtained a Master Mariners (Class One) Certificate before leaving the profession in 1991. During her seagoing career she also worked as a volunteer with Greenpeace and was involved in campaigns to stop whaling in Iceland; establish a moratorium on minerals exploitation in Antarctica and end industrial fishing in the North Sea. She also worked as a British Seas Fisheries Officer with the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

Bernadette’s seagoing career has flung her up on some beautiful and distant places such as Pitcairn Island, the Ross Peninsula, the Beagle Channel and Saint Kilda.  These days, enjoyment of the sea tends to be centred around visits to the seaside, the Welsh coast in particular, with children, dogs, buckets, spades and a thermos flask.

Deborah Crockard (Fisheries Policy Officer)

Deborah is the newest member of the team and looks after fisheries policy, the political side of fisheries management. This is an important area, especially since UK fisheries must comply with the EC Common Fisheries Policy. The management structure is therefore set by Europe, and implemented by the UK Government and regional organisations such as IFCAs and IFG’s. Overall, the CFP has not been successful, as 80% of EU fish stocks are overfished, and so the current 10-year review is particularly important for organisations like MCS to achieve better outcomes for the marine environment and achieve sustainable exploitation of its biological resources. Deborah works with organisations such as DEFRA, Cefas and Seafish, as well as at the European level with our NGO partners, such as Seas at Risk, and Seafish.

Deborah studied Marine biology at Aberdeen University and completed an MSc in Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology and has worked in the field of deep sea biology, as well as on North Sea fisheries. 

Deborah is a keen diver and has been lucky enough to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world.