Connecting people and projects across the responsible seafood movement
Overview
For years the community has identified the need for a mechanism to track efforts and experts across our movement to increase collaboration opportunities. The goal of this mapping tool is to create a resource where individuals can view who is working where and on what to identify where collaboration may reduce redundancy and accelerate progress, seek support in new geographies, and better understand the focus and global picture of our movement. As the movement’s hub, the Alliance is the right group to develop and host this tool. To demonstrate their support for this project and its value, Seafood 2030 has generously agreed to financially contribute to the development of the tool, making it a joint project between the Alliance and Seafood 2030.
goal
This interactive resource will advance the Alliance’s goal to increase collaboration between members of the community working on similar issues to reduce redundancy and accelerate impact across the movement. Success will be measured by 1) the number of participants, 2) the value it serves in connecting individuals across geographies and focus areas, and 3) its utility to support new or ongoing work by the Global Hub community.
Timeline
February – October 2022
Working Group
Pablo Alvarez
Pablo Álvarez coordinates the projects on sustainable fisheries, with an emphasis on the implementation of Fisheries Improvement Projects at the Conservation Department in Pronatura Noroeste NGO since 2017. He is an Associate Technical Consultant in the MSC Technical consultants registered to provide support to fisheries. He is an Oceanographer with a Master of Science and an Environment and Development PhD. He has worked in northwest Mexico since 2002, with fishing communities and organizations. He taught at the Faculty of Marine Sciences of the Autonomous University of Baja California from 2007 to 2021. His main interest is the implementation of self-managed projects for the sustainable management of fisheries, to improve the well-being of the localities.
Mina Chiang
Mina Chiang, founder, director, and senior consultant specializing in modern slavery, human rights, and poverty. Mina has an inter-disciplinary background in engineering, sociology, anthropology, and international development. She has consulted in some of the world’s poorest and conflict-affected countries. With research experience in modern slavery, forced labor, and human rights issues across a wide range of UN bodies, governments, and NGOs, Mina is becoming a sought after expert. She is also a coordinator and board director for the Rotary Action Group Against Slavery (RAGAS) and a Delta 8.7 Policy Guide working group member.”
Ned Daly
Ned Daly is a sustainability strategist with Diversified Communications. He has worked on sustainable markets in a variety of resources for 25 years. Ned worked in seafood for the last decade with SeaWeb, Previously he was director of RugMark International (now GoodWeave), a certification program for child-labor-free rugs coming from Southeast Asia. He also served as chief operating officer for the Forest Stewardship Council in the United States, managing relationships with industry leaders and a diversity of key stakeholders including conservation nongovernment organizations, policymakers, and industry trade associations. Ned has also worked on sustainable markets in the agricultural sector and the relationship between resource extraction and ecosystem health. He lives in Alfred, Maine.
Andrea Diaz
I’m a biologist with a master’s degree in Conservation Biology. I have experience in sustainable development, natural resources conservation, and corporate social responsibility. I have worked with private companies within the food industry and with the non-profit sector developing and promoting sustainability programs and responsible supply chains. Currently, I’m the Deputy Director of the Buyer Engagement program from SmartFish in Mexico. An NGO dedicated to fostering a market for environmentally sustainable and socially responsible seafood.
Erika Feller
Erika Feller joined the MSC in July 2021 as Regional Director for the Americas where she oversees the continuing expansion of MSC’s work with fisheries, the supply chain, and consumers in Canada, the US, and Latin America.
Feller brings a breadth of experience in ocean and coastal conservation. Most recently, she directed ocean and coastal conservation programs for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, guiding investment in improved fishery monitoring, coastal resilience, and helping to recover resources in the Gulf of Mexico impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She began her career as a legislative and policy adviser on natural resource and environmental issues in the US House of Representatives, and later joined the Nature Conservancy where she led a North America-wide initiative to promote sustainable fisheries.
Feller has also served at the White House Council on Environmental Quality supporting interagency efforts on large scale ecosystem restoration around the U.S. and as the Chair of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on all living marine resource matters that are the responsibility of the Department of Commerce. She is based in Washington, D.C.
Brett Galimidi
Brett’s work at FishChoice is to design and implement technology tools to further FishChoice’s sustainability and business-focused programs. He is also responsible for the care and feeding of our two main websites FishChoice.com and FisheryProgress.org.
Conservation and sustainability are more than a job for Brett; it’s a way of life. To make a meaningful impact, Brett believes ecology and economies need to be considered together. The ocean conservation and sustainable seafood community understands this so Brett feels right at home here, despite being a vegetarian.
Prior to FishChoice, Brett ran his own consulting business, Digital Timber, which was designed specifically to bring practical technology tools to conservation work. He has worked on numerous tech projects in the ocean conservation community and on other environmental issues such as sugarcane and palm oil, as well as STEM education and social metrics. Brett has worked at the intersection of technology and sustainability for 15 years since getting his Master’s degree in Environment Management from Yale University.
Kathleen McDavitt
Kathleen is the US Market Development Manager at the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). In this role she helps North American retailers, suppliers, foodservice companies and NGOs engage in ASC’s farmed seafood eco-certification and labeling program. This work includes connecting companies to ASC-certified producers, helping companies get chain of custody certified, facilitating the use of ASC’s logo on certified seafood products, and promoting ASC labeled products to consumers.
Kathleen has eleven years of professional experience in the marine conservation field, with nine of those facilitating business leadership in sustainable seafood. Before joining ASC, she led partnerships with US retailers to achieve environmental and social improvements in their seafood supply chains.
Kathleen holds a Masters in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Andrea O’Donnell
Andrea M. O’Donnell is the Sustainability Coordinator of the Ipswich Shellfish Group, a founding member of Sea Pact. She holds a Master of Science in Marine Biology from the College of Charleston and her Bachelor of Science in Marine and Freshwater Biology from the University of New Hampshire. She relocated to the North Shore of MA from Charleston, SC after working in sustainable seafood at the South Carolina Aquarium. Andrea’s background also includes years of experience in environmental
education and oyster reef restoration.
Tim O’Reilly
Tim is the Managing Director and Owner of Taprobane Seafood Group, one of Sri Lanka’s largest seafood companies, with more than 2500 direct employees and six processing facilities throughout the country. Timothy O’ Reilly and Dilan Fernando, founded the company in 2011 with a shared vision for producing seafood of impeccable freshness and quality. Since its inception, TSG has strived to reach the highest standards of sustainable seafood farming and processing by partnering with various governmental and non-governmental bodies in addition to its independent initiatives.
Tim has been working in the seafood industry for over 25 years. He is the founding member of the Sri Lankan Blue Swimming Crab Fishery Improvement Project, which is the only eco-recommended FIP of its kind in Asia.
Helen Packer
Helen leads the Seafood Stewardship Index at WBA. She joined WBA in July 2020, and is responsible for ensuring the benchmark methodology reflects stakeholder expectations, preparing benchmark reports of key seafood companies, and engagement with stakeholders to further enhance the use of the benchmark. Helen believes that companies have a central role to play in the transition towards a sustainable world and that benchmarks can be a powerful tool to incentivize change while at the same time improve society’s understanding of the role of business in achieving sustainability. Prior to joining the WBA, Helen led Anova Food USA’s sustainability programs since 2014, collaborating with fishers, fishing companies, and NGOs in the implementation of improvement projects in SE Asia and the South Pacific. Helen holds a BSc in Marine Biology from Swansea University (UK) and an MSc in Aquaculture and Fisheries Management from Wageningen University (NL).
Julie Qiu
Julie Qiu is the Marketing Director for Australis Aquaculture, producer of The Better Fish® Barramundi, and international oyster expert and educator. She’s best known as the creator of In A Half Shell, a website devoted to advancing oyster appreciation. Prior to joining the seafood industry, Julie worked in advertising as a brand strategist for multinational companies in the consumer goods, automotive, financial services, and energy sectors. Based in New York City, Julie serves as a Brand Ambassador for Seafood Nutrition Partnership and Professional Advisory Council member for the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School.
Nina Rosen
As a Project Manager at FishWise, Nina provides support for the Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT) and Traceability Division. Nina’s work connects the efforts of the SALT project – a global alliance to share seafood traceability knowledge – to those of the Traceability Division where she works closely with industry. She focuses on engaging stakeholders to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated catch from entering the market by sharing traceability solutions and guidelines. Of specific interest to this Working Group, Nina brings her experience managing, maintaining, and designing SALT’s Seascape Map. Prior to joining FishWise, Nina worked at the intersections of science communication, fisheries, and research coordination. She has experience working with small-scale fishers during her past research with the Gulf of California Marine Program to understand how co-management strategies provide structure to sustain marine resources and livelihoods. Nina holds a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography from Humboldt State University, a Master of Advanced Studies in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and is an AAUS scientific diver. Nina’s interdisciplinary background gained through academic and professional experiences allow her to view seafood security through an environmental, economic, and social lens.
Sophie Ryan
Sophie is CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) – a leadership group representing 50% of the global farmed salmon industry committed to continuous improvements in their sustainability performance. Her work focuses on motivating environmental improvements, developing effective communication strategies to improve industry transparency, and building multi-stakeholder relationships to help achieve the group’s sustainability goals. Having worked with the group since it’s conception in 2013, Sophie has supported the growth of the group to where it is today and helped construct and launch the first industry-wide Sustainability Report in the food sector. Sophie is also a trustee on the board of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and a member of the Champions Network for the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit.
Ryo Takahashi
Ryo majored in Agricultural Economics at Tokyo University of Agriculture. After studying agriculture in the Philippines, he became interested in doing business with foreign countries, and after graduation, joined a trading company specializing in seafood in Tsukiji. After joining the company, he purchased wild-caught seafood products from South America and other Asian countries and sold them to a number of businesses in Japan and abroad. Currently, he’s working to get people of all ages interested in the seafood industry to balance sustainable seafood and business.
