Non-profit trade organisation Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) has announced the addition of three new members to its 12-member Standards Oversight Committee (SOC).
Toby Middleton, Head of Market Operations at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), and Michael Park, CEO of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, were formerly on the SOC for Global Seafood Assurances, which in 2021 merged with the Global Aquaculture Alliance to form the Global Seafood Alliance. The third addition is new recruit, Duncan Leadbitter, Director of Fish Matter in Australia.
According to GSA, the addition of Middleton, Park and Leadbitter – collectively with 75-plus years of experience in wild-capture fisheries – signifies the transition of the SOC from its roots in aquaculture to a comprehensive seafood organization covering both farmed and wild-caught seafood products.
“GSA is absolutely delighted with this triple injection of global talent. Our oversight body now covers wild-caught as well as farmed seafood, in line with the new, comprehensive scope of GSA and the widespread calls for a unified approach to sustainable seafood,” GSA Standards Coordinator, Dan Lee, said.
Established in 2008, the SOC directs the drafting of GSA’s certification standards by technical committees and reports its recommendations to the GSA board of directors for final approval.
Under the direction of the BAP standards coordinator, the SOC also coordinates revisions to the standards. To ensure equal representation amongst the 12 SOC members, four originate from the conservation community, four from academia and four from industry.
SOC members serve three-year terms, with a maximum of four terms.
Currently, there are six sets of standards in GSA’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification programme and two sets of standards in GSA’s new Best Seafood Practices (BSP) certification programme, the Responsible Fishing Vessels Standard (RFVS) and the Seafood Processing Standard (SPS).
