Saving Seafood

Global Seafood Alliance offers few details on departure of CEO Brian Perkins

April 4, 2023 — The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) issued an update on the departure of former CEO Brian Perkins, offering few details for his reason for his leaving the nonprofit organization on 31 March.

Perkins’ sudden exit ended his two-year stint with the GSA. He initially served as the organization’s chief operating officer, a role specifically created to transition him to his later role of CEO. Perkins ultimately took over as CEO from Wally Stevens in 2022. Stevens was named interim CEO of the organization following Perkins’ departure.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Inside the making of the Global Seafood Alliance, Responsible Fisheries Management partnership

March 26, 2023 — The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) and the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification program have agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the goal of reducing certification costs and promoting market options for  certified seafood.

Both entities will remain separate in regards to ownership, communications, and funding. But the agreement will result in a reduction of the number of audits required and number of certification bodies needed to certify GSA and RFM standards, according to Global Seafood Alliance CEO Brian Perkins.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Seafood industry to play critical role in feeding growing population as climate change hits harder

October 7, 2022 — The world’s human population is expected to surpass 10 billion by 2050. How to feed that many people, especially as the effects of global warming continue to worsen, was the subject of a 5 October panel at the Global Seafood Alliance’s 2022 GOAL conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

University of Washington Professor of Fisheries Science Ray Hilborn, University of Stirling Aquaculture Professor Richard Newton, Environmental Defense Fund Senior Manager of Climate Resilient Food Systems Willow Battista, and Wittaya Aqua CEO Evan Hall reviewed statistical evidence linking changes in climage to global output of fishing and aquaculture production and debated the industry’s impact on the environment.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Emily De Sousa speaks on the value of TikTok in the seafood industry

October 5, 2022 — TikTok has become one of the most-popular platforms of social media, and that popularity is beginning to show direct connections to the seafood industry.

Emily De Sousa, a fisheries scientist and CEO of online education platform Seaside with Emily, said at the 2022 Global Seafood Alliance GOAL Conference on 4 October that TikTok can become a valuable marketing tool for the seafood industry, especially in reaching Gen Z and millennials, the two generations with the “largest buying power in the market,” make it a prime target for marketers.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Brian Perkins leading GAA’s transition into GSA

May 3, 2022 — On 20 April, 2021, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) announced it was transitioning into the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA).

A year into the change, the organization selected Brian Perkins – who has more than four decades of experience in the seafood industry – as its new CEO to lead the transition. Perkins replaced former CEO Wally Stevens on 1 January. Perkins served as the organization’s chief operating officer prior to his new role, and joined the organization after a six-year role at the Marine Stewardship Council.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Growing BAP hoping to expand in China, riding coattails of growing US soy imports

January 31, 2022 — Eighteen years after a shrimp farm in Belize became the first Best Aquaculture Practices-certified facility, the program continues to grow at a healthy rate and is eyeing expansion into China.

The Global Seafood Alliance’s BAP third-party certification program grew 8.6 percent in 2021, ending the year with 3,169 BAP-certified facilities in six continents and 39 countries, up from 2,918 BAP-certified facilities at the end of 2020, according to the organization.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

MarinTrust, GSA sign MoU to meet marine ingredient sustainability goals

November 5, 2021 — The Global Seafood Alliance, formerly Global Aquaculture Alliance; and MarinTrust, formerly IFFO RS; have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together and create an end-to-end assurance program for the global seafood value chain.

The MoU will see the two organizations cooperate on meeting a goal of having 75 percent of the world’s marine ingredients supplies – for products like fishmeal and fish oil – be either certified as sustainable, in an assessment, applying for certification, or a part of the MarinTrust Improver Program by 2025. The two organizations own collectively the MarinTrust Standard for Responsible Supply, MarinTrust Chain of Custody for Responsible Supply, MarinTrust Improver Program, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Best Seafood Practices (BSP) certification programs.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Global Seafood Alliance launches Best Seafood Practices standard

June 3, 2021 — The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) – formerly the Global Aquaculture Alliance – has announced the launch of Best Seafood Practices (BSP), a third-party certification standard for wild-capture fisheries.

The new standard, GSA said, will be the world’s only standard that links responsible wild capture fisheries, Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard (RFVS)-certified vessels, and Seafood Processing Plant Standard (SPS)-certified facilities through the Chain of Custody standard. The new standard will be the equivalent of the organization’s Best Aquaculture Practices third-party aquaculture certification program.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Global Aquaculture Alliance changes name to Global Seafood Alliance

April 20, 2021 — The Global Aquaculture Alliance announced on 20 April that it has officially changed its name to the Global Seafood Alliance, following a vote by its board of directors and the board of directors of its sister organization, Global Seafood Assurances.

GAA launched Global Seafood Assurances in 2018 as a nonprofit addressing marketplace expectations and assurance involving environmental responsibility, social responsibility, food safety, and animal welfare for both farmed and wild-caught seafood. The United Kingdom’s Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) signed a memorandum of understanding with the nonprofit to address a gap in certification, before ultimately signing over the Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard.

Read the full story at Seafood Source