Meet our chairs

Assistant Researcher at the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) in Portugal.

Working with sampling design of biological data collection within the DCF, with incidental by-catch of sensitive species and with marine biodiversity, including within the MSFD.
Co-chair of RCG NANSEA. Member of international working groups (e.g. WGCATCH, WGBYC)
and projects (e.g. Cibbrina, B-USEFUL).

Has been working at
IPMA within the scope of the DCF since 2017. Previously worked at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL) and Marine and Environmental
Sciences Centre (MARE), on the topics of estuarine and marine biodiversity and connectivity. Graduated in Marine Biology in 2001 and obtained a PhD in Marine
Biology in 2009.

Is co-chairing RCG NANSEA and also co-chairing the RCG ISSG “Towards a regional sampling plan -Case Study of the trawl fishery in Iberian Waters” and the ISSG “Umbrella group” / “Optimized and Operational Regional Sampling Plans”. Member of RCG ISSG “PETS” and “Electronic Monitoring Technologies (EMT)”.

Laura is a fisheries scientist at the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) in Belgium.

She coordinates the Belgian biological sampling programme under the Data Collection Framework (DCF) and is also responsible for coordinating the Demersal Young Fish and Beam Trawl Survey. In addition, she is also involved in several ICES working groups relevant to her expertise, including WGCATCH and WGBEAM.

Laura joined ILVO in 2020 and has since contributed to a broad range of research topics, including survival studies on skates, CFP regionalisation, stomach sampling, and precision fisheries. In recent years, she has taken on a coordinating role overseeing the commercial sampling programme under the DCF.

Co- chair of the RCG NANSEA and Baltic. Member of ISSG on Surveys, ISSG on the development of Regional Work Plan and ISSG on regionally coordinated stomach sampling.

Head of Information and Data division in Fish Resources Research department of scientific institute “BIOR”. Responsible for providing answers on end users data calls. Data collection program coordinator in Latvia. Member of several international working groups: RCG (Baltic, LDF, Econ), STECF (FDI, AER, TM, WP, AR), ICES (WGCATCH, WGSFD).

Graduated from Transport and telecommunication institute (TSI) with a bachelor degree in the field of Computer science. Is currently in the process of writing his master’s thesis in the field of big data. Experienced in the IS development, programming (C and C++, Java, Python, R, SQL) and database development.

Chair of RCG LDF. Member of several RCG intersessional subgroups: Transversal issues, Small-Scale Fisheries, RDB Overviews.

Adelbert is a senior scientist at ILVO (Belgium) responsible for data collection and reporting of socio-economic data of the fisheries, fish processing and aquaculture sectors. He is also a guest-professor at Ghent University teaching developmental biology and evolutionary developmental biology.

Adelbert has an international background in functional and evolutionary biology, with research in fundamental, biomedical and aquaculture fields. Since 2021, he is lead scientist for socio-economic data collection, working full-time on collecting, analysing and reporting data of the fisheries, fish processing and aquaculture sectors in Belgium.

Adelbert functions as the Belgian expert on socio-economic data collection for the fisheries, fish processing and aquaculture sector, contributing to ISSGs and technical meetings. From 2025-2026, he will chair the RCG ECON, contribute to decision meeting, and the liaison meeting as well as be a contact for other RCGs and ISSGs.

Hanna is an analyst at the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, where she is responsible for collecting and reporting socio-economic data on fisheries. She also analyzes the impacts of national and international regulations on the Swedish fishing fleet.

Hanna is an economist, holding two master’s degrees: a Master of Science in Business and Economics with a specialization in French, and a Master’s degree in Economics. She has professional experience both as a research assistant and within the banking sector. Her academic work has included research on labor market issues. Alongside her economic background, she has a strong personal interest in marine and water-related matters, shaped by growing up on the Swedish west coast.

Hanna functions as the Swedish expert on socio-economic data collection for fisheries, contributing to ISSGs and technical meetings. From 2026 to 2027, she will chair the RCG ECON, contribute to decision and liaison meetings, and serve as a contact point for other RCGs and ISSGs.

At present National Coordinator of the Italian Data Collection Programme, he has been responsible for the overall coordination of the Italian National Fishery Data Collection Programme in DCF since April 2021.

Enrico retired as Senior Fisheries Scientist from Italian National Research Council in July 2025; from 2009 to 2021 he has been Coordinator (based in Rome) of two Mediterranean FAO Project on fishery development and fishery data colection: AdriaMed in the Adriatic and MedSudMed in the Strait of Sicily. From 2004 to 2009 he has been head of the Fishery Lab of CNR in Ancona (Italy). More than 40 years of experience in the field.

Enrico is co-chairing the RCG Med&BS in 2026 (with Alexandru Gheorghe) and continue in his role in 2027, with a new co-chair.

Ioannis Thasitis is a Fisheries and Marine Research Officer at the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) of Cyprus. He is the National Focal Point for the ICCAT Commission representation and leads Cyprus’s scientific contribution at several GFCM, ICES, and ICCAT working groups. He has served as National Coordinator Representative in RCG LP since 2019. He serves as National Coordinator of the Mediterranean International Trawl Survey (MEDITS), with full project-cycle responsibility. He contributes to the national fisheries data collection programmes under the EU DCF and leads stock assessments for multiple species in GFCM GSA25. He has contributed to national fisheries management plans and the transposition of RFMOs recommendations into Cyprus regulations, bridging scientific evidence with policy implementation. He also leads Case Study 5 in the Horizon Europe MeCCAM project, developing climate adaptation solutions predominantly for small-scale fisheries and the Albacore surface long line fleet.

Ioannis holds an MSc in Aquaculture and a BSc in Fisheries and Aquaculture and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA), conducting thesis research investigating whether AI readiness can accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Before joining DFMR, he gained extensive private sector experience including six years as Managing Director of a diversified enterprise with international partnerships across more than 15 countries, and roles in Marine hatchery and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) management. This combination of industry and public administration experience, along with continuous professional development -such as courses in stock assessment, data analysis, and stakeholder engagement at internationally accredited institutions- informs his work in fisheries science and policy.

Ioannis co-chairs RCG LP with Pedro Lino (Portugal) in 2025 and with George Tserpes (Greece) in 2026. In 2026, he will coordinate and facilitate RCG LP meetings, chair the Regional Database Case Study Testing and the ISSG on Regional Work Plan development, and participate in intersessional subgroup work during his tenure.

George holds a position of Research Director in the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). He is currently member of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) of EU and also coordinates the Mediterranean Swordfish Working Group of  ICCAT. Since 2019 coordinates the Working Group on Stock Assessment of Demersal Species (WGSAD) of GFCM.

George will co-chair the RCG LP with Ioannis Thasitis (Cyprus) in 2026 and continue in his role in 2027 with a new co-chair. He will coordinate and facilitate the RCG LP meetings in the 2026-2027 period and participate in the ISSG work for the RCG LP.

George will co-chair the RCG LP with Ioannis Thasitis (Cyprus) in 2026 and continue in his role in 2027 with a new co-chair. He will coordinate and facilitate the RCG LP meetings in the 2026-2027 period and participate in the ISSG work for the RCG LP.

Sarah lead Ireland’s socio-economic Data Collection Framework for fisheries and aquaculture at An Bord Iascaigh Mhara, (BIM), Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency. She represented Ireland as a fisheries and stakeholder engagement expert at international and EU forums, including ICES (WGENGAGE) and STECF (AER, Social Data) and contributed to national and EU reports on the social context and economic performance of fisheries and aquaculture.

Sarah is a project manager and stakeholder engagement specialist with over 17 years’ experience in marine and fisheries policy across North-West Europe, Southern Africa, and South Asia. She holds a PhD in Marine Environmental Governance and Geopolitics, with research on legal and policy frameworks for managing transboundary ecosystem and resource conflicts. Her expertise spans EU fisheries and marine policy, including the CFP, Blue Growth, and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Sarah participated in the ISSG work for the RCG ECON.

Charis Charilaou is an Officer A’ at the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) of Cyprus. She is involved in the EU Data Collection since 2005; particularly, she is responsible for the collection, analysis and transmission of biological and discards data, and coordinates the preparation of Work Plans and Annual Reports.

She holds a Master Degree in Marine and Fisheries Science (University of Aberdeen, 2002). She has been working at the Fisheries Resources Division of the DFMR since 2003. Working at the DFMR, she has gained experience in the collection and management of scientific data, as well as the provision of scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy.

Charis is co-chairing the RCG Med&BS in 2024 (with Emmanuel Tessier) and 2025. She is also member of several RCG Med&BS intersessional subgroups.

Senior Consultant at Technical University of Denmark, National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua).

Working with commercial fisheries data analysis and advice. Co-chair of RCG ISSG on Metier and transversal variable issues. Member of several international working groups (RCG, STECF FDI, WGCATCH, WGSFD, WGSFDGOV, RDBES core group, WGRDBESGOV).

Has been working with fisheries data under the DCF since 2004, and have been involved in international work through ICES working groups and workshops, where she has been chair of WGSFD, WKTRADE, WKTRADE3, WKSSFGEO) and STECF FDI. Graduated as MSc in Geography in 2001.

She was co-chairing RCG NANSEA and now continues co-chairing the RCG ISSG on Metier and transversal variable issues, which she has been chairing since 2019. Member of RCG ISSG on Small-Scale Fisheries.

Irene Tzouramani is a Research Director at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (ELGO DIMITRA) in Athens. She has over ten years of experience in fisheries research. Since 2012, she has been actively involved in the Greek data collection program for socio-economic variables in fisheries.

Irene is an Agricultural Economist and holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics. She has been involved in the national data collection, management, and use of socio-economic data in the fisheries sector to support scientific advice since 2012.

Irene co-chaired the RCG ECON with Hans van Oostenbrugge (Netherlands) in 2024 and with Adelbert De Clercq in 2025. She coordinated and facilitated the RCG ECON meetings in the 2024-2025 period and participates in the ISSG work for the RCG ECON.

National Correspondent for Estonia. Working as an advisor in Fishery Resources Department at the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture in Estonia.

Graduated at University of Tartu with a master’s degree in the field of Zoology and hydrobiology (bird ecology). National correspondent for data collection and responsible for implementing the fisheries data collection, management and control since 2016.

Involved in regional coordination of data collection since 2016. Active member of several RCGs (Baltic, NANSEA and since 2022 LDF) and takes also part in intersessional subgroups work. Co-chair of RCG Baltic for the period 2019-2021. 

Researcher in the Marine Research Division of AZTI, Lucía works in the coordination of Basque commercial and recreational fisheries data collection (DCF), and the respond to international Data Calls. She is also involved in the international coordination of data collection. 

PhD in plankton ecology, Lucía has over 12 years of experience in fisheries data collection and has executed a number of national and international projects related with fisheries data collection for both commercial and recreational fisheries. She is member of several international working groups (WGRDBES-GOV, WGCATCH, STECF)  

Lucía has co-chaired the RCG NANSEA during the period 2019 – 2021. At present she is co–chairing the ISSG “RDB catch, effort and sampling overviews.” with Ana Claudia Fernandes. 

Fisheries scientist at Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) 

Project manager of the Dutch DCF onboard fisheries monitoring programme, including monitoring of onboard demersal active vessels, pelagic trawlers and demersal passive vessels. 

Project researcher in several fisheries related projects (both national and international). 

Harriet has over 12 years of experience in fisheries data collection and has executed a number of (international) projects including work on discards, seasonal closures and the pulse fishery. She has participated in the RCG NANSEA and in a number of ICES and STECF Expert Working Groups.   

Harriet currently holds the position as co-chair of the RCG NANSEA. She is also active in the ISSG case study on freezer trawler fleet exploiting pelagic fisheries in the NEA and the ISSG Optimized and Operational Regional Sampling Plans. 

Sven Stötera is currently working as a fisheries biologist at the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries in Rostock, Germany. He is focusing on stock assessments, mainly Baltic Sea flatfishes. Also researching on stock discrimination methods, otolith stable isotopes and microchemistry. He is member in several ICES Working groups and responsible for most commercial fisheries data calls. 

He studied biology and Fisheries science at the Hamburg university. After finishing his M.Sc., he worked in geotechnology and –analytics, before starting to work at Thünen as a fisheries scientist in 2012. Beside the scientific work there, he also conducted his doctorate on new stock discrimination methods in Baltic Sea cod between 2014 and 2017.   

Member of the RCG (RCM) Baltic since 2013, participated in subgroups and planning group for the change from RCM to RCG and afterwards as member of several ISSGs since 2016. Chair of the ISSG for RDB overviews from 2018 to 2020. 

Chair for the RCG Baltic since 2020. 

Until today, Mathieu Depetris is a fisheries data analyst in the Exploited Tropical Pelagic Ecosystems Observatory of the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development. His working scope is the monitoring of the French tropical tuna fleet, deployed in the Indian and Atlantic oceans (data collection, validation, storage and data analyses associated). 

He has a double background in “marine biology” and statistics. These skills have led him to work in the Ifremer’s Fisheries Information System as a statistician, in a French Marine Protected Area where he contributed to the development of indicators, or in a clinical research institute as data-manager. He was also involved in some EU projects like the RECOLAPE project and currently in the FishNCo and SECWEB projects. 

Involve in the RCG LP since 2018, he brings his expertise on LP fisheries regarding the French tropical tunas fishery. Furthermore, he is involved in two RCG subgroups, the sub-ISSG Tropical Tuna Treatment and the ISSG focus on the regional database development.

National Correspondent for Croatia. Head of Unit for Data Collection Programme in Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture, Directorate of Fisheries in Croatia. 

Graduated at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb with a master’s degree in the field of biology (ecology). National correspondent for data collection since 2013 and involved in the fisheries data collection, management and control since 2011.

Serving as a link between Member States in the Mediterranean and Back Sea and end users of scientific data in fulfilling a common goal of strengthening regional cooperation in the area of data collection, provision of scientific data for the main purpose of sound fisheries management and sustainability.  

Main focus on data collection in recreational fisheries, and establishing communication channels for the collection of ecosystem data, including data on bycatch of vulnerable species. 

Senior Researcher and project manager at NISEA Società Cooperativa, Economic research and statistics in Fishery and Aquaculture, Italy.

Economist with extensive experience in the analysis of socio-economic aspects of European fisheries. Since 1999 she has participated in numerous research projects and she has taken part in a number of FAO, EC STECF and OCED working groups on fishery data collection. Since 2021 she is vice president of the European Association of Fisheries Economists (EAFE).

As task leader of FishNCo (MARE/2020/08) project, responsible for compiling the Regional Work Plan for economic data and for a Comparative analysis on capital value and capital cost estimation within the RCG ECON. 

Economist

2003 – 2007 Fishing activity data accounting, transmission and analysis for Latvian fishing vessels. 

2008 – 2021 Socioeconomic Data Collection coordination, data analysis and transmission for Latvian fishing, aquaculture and fish processing sectors.  

Heidi Pokki works in the Natural Resources Institute Finland as a Senior Scientist and Group Manager in the Bioeconomy accounting group in Statistical Services Unit. She is involved in the economic and social data collection of the Finnish fleet, aquaculture, and fish processing sectors. 

Heidi has a Doctor’s Degree on Agriculture and Forestry including dissertation in Environmental Economics (fisheries) and Master’s degree on Economics and Business Administration in the field of Economics. She works as a fisheries economist and has been involved in the economic data collection of fisheries since 2010. 

Heidi will be co-chairing the RCG ECON with Irina Davidjuka in 2022 and with some new candidate in 2023. She will be co-ordinating and facilitating the RCG ECON meetings in 2022-2023 period and participating in the ISSG work for RCG ECON.

Head of Department of Logistics & Monitoring at National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia, Poland. National Correspondent (DCF) since 2015. 

Msc Eng. marine fisheries, biologist. In charge of DCF in Poland since 2011.  

Chair. Coordinator of joint sampling programmes for the EU long distance vessels fishing for small pelagics in the CECAF and SPRFMO areas.

Beatriz Guijarro is a Researcher in the Balearic Islands Oceanographic Centre (Spanish Institute of Oceanography IEO – CSIC). Her research is focused on the assessment of demersal species, on the population dynamics, biology and influence of environmental factors on demersal species and ecosystem and on the assessment of technical measures for provision of scientific advice for
management.

She holds a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology, with a thesis on the population dynamics and assessment of deep water decapods exploited by the bottom trawl fleet from the Balearic Islands. She has been involved in the national data collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector to support for scientific advice since 2005.

She co-chaired the 2022 RCG Med and BS with Jurgen Mifsud (Malta) an will co-chair the 2023 RCG Med and BS with Emmanuel Tessier (France). In addition, she will participate in the 2023 RCG Med and BS and chair of the MEDITS Steering Committee.

Senior specialist in the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia, Poland. Responsible for the development of databases and applications, fisheries data analysis and data transmission. Involved in designing the national programme for fisheries data collection. Member of several international working groups: RCG Baltic, STECF FDI, WGCATCH, WGRDBES-GOV.

management.

Graduated from the University of Gdańsk with a master’s degree in the field of Informatics and Econometrics. Developed data analysis skills at international training courses and workshops. Completed postgraduate studies in Data Science. Experienced in the R environment, programming and database development. 

Involved in the regional coordination of data collection in the Baltic Sea since 2013. Member of several RCG intersessional subgroups dealing mainly with data analysis: Transversal issues, Data Quality, End-user and RCG. RCG Baltic representative in  WGRDBES–GOV. Co-chair of RCG Baltic for the period 2022-2023. 

He joined Ifremer in 2018, and is currently the head of a Mediterranean fisheries laboratory at Sète (France). The lab is part of a mixed research unit MARBEC (Marine Biodiversity, exploitation and Conservation) dealing with impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems management.

PhD in marine biology, he has been involved 4 years in the Indian Ocean, regional tuna project in data collection and participated in regional workgroups.

Other significant positions: scientific and technical advisor in a fishermen organization to promote sustainable fisheries / Manager and designer of MPAs / Scientific head in a fisheries, aquaculture and marine environment technology center.

Co chair of RCG Med&BS with Beatriz Guijarro.

Hans van Oostenbrugge is senior fisheries economist at Wageningen Economic Research. He has over 25 years of experience in fisheries research, and more than 20 year in fisheries economics and fisheries management. He has been actively involved in the Dutch data collection program for economic and social data from the fisheries and aquaculture sector. 

Trained as a fisheries biologist and having done a Ph-D in fisheries management he has a broad knowledge of fisheries and fisheries management issues. Since 2001 he has been actively involved in data collection and research projects in the field of fisheries economics and has also lead the Dutch group of fisheries economists. 

Hans will be co-chairing the RCG ECON with Heidi Pokki in 2023 and with some new candidate in 2024. He will be co-ordinating and facilitating the RCG ECON meetings in 2023-2024 period and participating in the ISSG work for RCG ECON.