Jim R. Ellis
Director of Cefas’ Fisheries International Centre of Excellence
Jim is the Director of Cefas’ Fisheries International Centre of Excellence, and senior scientist and advisor in relation to elasmobranch fish and ichthyology. He co-edited the 2015 Fish atlas of the Celtic Sea, North Sea, and Baltic Sea.
After studying for a degree in zoology with marine zoology (Bangor) and completing a PhD on the biology and ecology of elasmobranch fish (Swansea), he joined Cefas in 1997. Jim’s main research interests are in the fisheries ecology of elasmobranch fish (sharks, dogfish, skates and rays), the structure and diversity of fish and epibenthic assemblages, and other aspects of ichthyology.
Within ICES’ science community, he is a member (and past chair) of the Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (WGEF), a member of the International Bottom Trawl Survey Working Group (IBTSWG) and a past chair of the Working Group on Fish Ecology (WGFE) and Working Group on Biodiversity Science (WGBIODIV), and has participated in numerous specialised workshops. Jim has also participated in scientific meetings of ICCAT, STECF and CCAMLR, and IUCN Red List workshops.
Jim is an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, the current vice-chair of the CMS Sharks-MoU Advisory Committee, the fish contract manager for the NE Atlantic Marine Biological Analytical Quality Control Scheme (NMBAQC) and a member of the Northern Europe Regional Group of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group.
Publications:
Jim has authored numerous publications in relation to elasmobranchs, fish ecology and other aspects of marine biology.
Selected publications:
Ellis, J. R., Barker, J., McCully Phillips, S. R., Meyers, E. and Heupel, M. (2021) Angel sharks (Squatinidae): A review of biological knowledge and exploitation. Journal of Fish Biology, 98: 592–621.
Ellis, J. R., Pawson, M. G. and Shackley, S. E. (1996). The comparative feeding ecology of six species of shark and four species of ray (Elasmobranchii) in the North-East Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 76: 89–106.
Heessen, H. J. L., Daan, N. and Ellis, J. R. (Eds.) (2015). Fish atlas of the Celtic Sea, North Sea, and Baltic Sea. Wageningen Academic Publishers / KNNV Publishing, 572 pp.
