Saving Seafood

Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global conference program to bring together more than 90 industry experts

March 26, 2026 — The 32nd edition of Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global – taking place at Fira de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, from 21 to 23 April – will feature, in its conference program, more than 30 educational sessions led by more than 90 international seafood industry experts.

Event organizer Diversified said the conference program will feature experts and representatives from organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Trade Organization (WTO), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as well as leading seafood companies. Speakers and sessions will explore the rapid transformation of seafood markets, including changing consumer preferences, product innovation, and marketing strategies aimed at increasing seafood consumption. [Editor’s note: Diversified also owns and operates SeafoodSource.]

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

These are the top-earning green group bosses

March 20, 2026 — The bosses of the Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund and National Audubon Society are the top-earning executives among major environmental and conservation groups, according to the most recent tax filings.

Carter Roberts and Fred Krupp, the leaders of WWF and EDF, respectively, both earned more than $1 million in total compensation, according to the latest publicly available tax records, ranking them among the best-paid leaders in the environmental movement.

Nonprofits are required to release their tax documents publicly, although their disclosure often lags by several years. The nonprofits’ most recent publicly available documents detail senior employees’ pay for calendar or tax years in 2023 or 2024.

Audubon CEO Elizabeth Gray and The Nature Conservancy’s CEO Jennifer Morris weren’t far behind, each earning compensation topping $900,000 in the most recent filings.

Other top earners in the latest records include former Greenpeace leader Ebony Twilley Martin — who left her position with a settlement payment — and Jamie Rappaport Clark, who received a bonus the year she left her job as head of Defenders of Wildlife.

POLITICO’s E&E News analyzed 27 environmental and conservation groups’ most recent tax filings, many of which were compiled by ProPublica. Here’s how much their bosses made in base pay and total compensation, which can include bonuses, retirement pay and other benefits:

1. Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund

EDF’s leader since 1984, Krupp’s total compensation in the 2023 filing was $1,302,005, the tax records show.

2. Carter Roberts, president and CEO, World Wildlife Fund

Roberts has led the international conservation group since 2005. His reported compensation in 2023 was $1,290,569.

3. Elizabeth Gray, CEO, National Audubon Society

Gray has been the group’s permanent CEO since 2021. Her total compensation in 2023 was $951,881. That included a bonus of $256,250 “for her exceptional performance during her tenure at Audubon,” according to the filing.

Read the full article at E&E News

Nations ratify world’s first treaty to protect marine biodiversity in international waters

September 22, 2025 — A major agreement to protect marine diversity in the high seas was struck Friday when Morocco became the 60th nation to sign on, paving the way for the treaty to take effect next year.

The High Seas Treaty is the first legal framework aimed at protecting biodiversity in international waters, those that lie beyond the jurisdiction of any single country. International waters account for nearly two-thirds of the ocean and nearly half of Earth’s surface and are vulnerable to threats including overfishing, climate change and deep-sea mining.

“The high seas are the world’s largest crime scene — they’re unmanaged, unenforced, and a regulatory legal structure is absolutely necessary,” said Johan Bergenas, senior vice president of oceans at the World Wildlife Fund.

Still, the pact’s strength is uncertain as some of the world’s biggest players — the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — have yet to ratify. The U.S. and China have signed, signaling intent to align with the treaty’s objectives without creating legal obligations, while Japan and Russia have been active in preparatory talks.

Ratification triggers a 120-day countdown for the treaty to take effect. But much more work remains to flesh out how it will be implemented, financed and enforced.

“You need bigger boats, more fuel, more training and a different regulatory system,” Bergenas said. “The treaty is foundational — now begins the hard work.”

Read the full article at PBS News

NOAA chief of staff elevated to acting administrator

April 3, 2025 — The Commerce Department has elevated NOAA Chief of Staff Laura Grimm to lead the agency, replacing acting Administrator Nancy Hann, who will remain with NOAA as deputy undersecretary for operations.

The leadership change, first reported by Axios, was confirmed Wednesday by two NOAA employees who had knowledge of the move but were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about it. One other agency staffer said news of the move was circulating among staff but no official announcement of the changes had come as of Wednesday morning.

Grimm, who formerly worked for the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund as director of ocean markets and the Pew Charitable Trusts as an international fisheries specialist, has been at NOAA since January, according to her LinkedIn page.

Read the full article at E&E News

Global Ghost Gear Initiative report provides recommendations for government action

August 11, 2021 — A new report has foundthe best way to reduce the impact of lost fishing gear is to enforce existing rules.

The report, “Ghost Gear Legislation Analysis,” was jointly written bythe World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Ocean Outcomes, and Ocean Conservancy’s Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). It assesses existing government legislation and policies addressing ghost gear and provides recommendations to governments to strengthen existing efforts and other actions to address lost, abandoned, or discarded fishing gear.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NGOs call on EU to require electronic monitoring to stop illegal fishing

June 25, 2021 — A group of 52 NGOs, retailers, seafood supply chain companies, and academic groups are urging the European Union fisheries ministers to add cameras and remote electronic monitoring (REM) to fishing fleets to help prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

The group, which includes organizations like the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Oceana, ClientEarth, and more, is calling on the E.U. to mandate cameras for vessels that are above 12 meters in length. Currently, the E.U. is planning mandates to add cameras, but only for certain vessels above 24 meters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Walton Family Foundation picks new strategy for oceans, fishery conservation work

June 18, 2021 — The Walton Family Foundation – which was created by the family of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton and  annually gives away more than USD 500 million (EUR 412.3 million) to charitable causes, including more than USD 90 million (EUR 74.2 million) in 2019 to environment-centered projects – has revamped its approach toward its marine conservation and support of seafood sustainability initiatives.

Heather D’Agnes, senior program officer and oceans initiative lead for the foundation’s environment program, told SeafoodSource in an interview that WFF recently launched a new five-year plan tailored toward maximizing its impact on specific fisheries and seafood-trading nations.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Report claims one-fifth of caviar and meat sold in key markets illegal

June 15, 2021 — A survey by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has revealed that the trade of caviar and sturgeon-based products in four key European countries continues to be plagued by illegal trading, hindering the recovery of seven of eight species of sturgeon in Eastern Europe that are on the brink of extinction.

WWF conducted a market survey within the European Union-funded LIFE project and published a resulting paper, “Sustainable Protection of Lower Danube Sturgeons by Preventing and Counteracting Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade,” laying out its findings. The research covered Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine – countries where sturgeon breed in the Lower Danube River and the northwestern Black Sea region. The Danube, along with the Rioni River in Georgia’s Caucasus, is one of two remaining rivers where migrating sturgeons reproduce naturally.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Companies back moratorium on deep sea mining

April 5, 2021 — A long-running dispute over plans to start mining the ocean floor has suddenly flared up.

For years it was only environmental groups that objected to the idea of digging up metals from the deep sea.

But now BMW, Volvo, Google and Samsung are lending their weight to calls for a moratorium on the proposals.

The move has been criticised by companies behind the deep sea mining plans, who say the practice is more sustainable in the ocean than on land.

The concept, first envisaged in the 1960s, is to extract billions of potato-sized rocks called nodules from the abyssal plains of the oceans several miles deep.

Rich in valuable minerals, these nodules have long been prized as the source of a new kind of gold rush that could supply the global economy for centuries.

Interest in them has intensified because many contain cobalt and other metals needed for the countless batteries that will power the electric vehicles of a zero-carbon economy.

Read the full story at BBC News

ISSF tuna stock status report shows increase in catch, little change in sustainability

April 5, 2021 — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s (ISSF) “Status of the Stocks” report covering the status of the world’s tuna fisheries has found that most catch continues to be sourced from stocks at “healthy” levels of abundance.

The twice-yearly report by the ISSF – a cooperative program involving scientists, the tuna industry, and the World Wildlife Fund – breaks down the status of the world’s tuna stocks. The latest report represents the second since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first started impacting the work of regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs).

Read the full story at Seafood Source