Esther Luiten is Commercial Director at the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), a certification and labelling programme for responsibly farmed seafood. Focus is on engaging retailers and seafood brands into the programme and supporting producers and supply chain companies to become certified. The commercial team is also strengthening relationships with key stakeholders as NGOs, governments and researchers.
Before joining the ASC, Esther was programme manager at the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and responsible for their Aquaculture market transformation program. Esther has over 15 years’ professional experience in the (international) seafood sector. Whereas sustainability was not a topic when she started her career, during her role as deputy director of the North Sea Foundation (a Dutch NGO) the topic was anchored on the agenda in Europe. She has a scientific background in Environmental Innovation and Communication, achieved her PhD in Innovation Studies and has been since then very much interested in facilitating the global seafood supply chain towards more sustainable practices.
