The Global Aquaculture Alliance has announced that Birgitte Krogh-Poulsen has become the newest member of the organisation’s Standards Oversight Committee (SOC), to further promote sustainable practices in aquaculture.
Ms Krogh-Poulsen is an independent consultant for Poulsen Consulting, with more than 15 years of experience in international development work in Africa and Asia, specialising in child protection, elimination of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking, and promotion of education and gender equality.
Ms Krogh-Poulsen fills a vacancy on the 12-member SOC, representing academia. SOC members represent a balance of stakeholder interests, with academia, environment and industry each comprising one-third of the committee. The vacancy was left by Dr Mudnakudu Nandeesha of India, who passed away in late 2012.
The SOC directs the drafting of the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards by technical committees and reports its recommendations to the GAA board of directors for final standards approval. With assistance from the BAP standards coordinator, the SOC also coordinates revisions and other aspects of standards development and implementation.
“I am very fortunate to be given this opportunity to work with GAA to further promote sustainable practices in aquaculture,” said Ms Krogh-Poulsen. “To me, sustainable practices include environmental as well as social sustainability. Decent labour conditions and upholding of rights are very much part of this agenda. I hope that my experiences from close to 20 years of promoting decent work and human rights will benefit GAA in its daily practice, and I look forward to an exciting new experience.”
