HALIFAX, CANADA, January 10, 2017 – Sea Pact, a collective organization of seafood industry leaders, has elected a new Chairman for its Advisory Council. Hamish Walker, Director of Purchasing at Seattle Fish Company is now chairman, taking the place of former chairman Guy Dean, VP/CSO at Albion Farms and Fisheries. Sea Pact is a group of nine leading North American seafood companies who strive to advance environmentally sustainable fisheries and aquaculture practices and provide the building blocks of a
Sea Pact is a group of nine leading North American seafood companies who strive to advance environmentally sustainable fisheries and aquaculture practices and provide the building blocks of a long term and sustainable seafood industry by financially contributing to fisheries and aquaculture improvement. “One of the main reasons I was attracted to the seafood industry was the opportunity to promote a healthy and sustainable source of protein. To have the opportunity to work with the forward-thinking seafood leaders in Sea Pact, and build on the great work led by previous chairs Logan Kock and Guy Dean is truly an honor and a privilege”, said Hamish Walker.
Rob Johnson, Managing Director of Sea Pact stated “I am very excited to have Hamish elected to the role as new Chair of the Advisory Council for a two year term, and look forward to working closely with him to drive the initiatives of our organization forward. We expect his experience, expertise, and high level of engagement in Sea Pact will bring great value in building on Sea Pact’s solid pre-competitive collaborative foundation”.
The seafood industry can be a powerful force for improving social responsibility and environmental sustainability of seafood and ocean ecosystems, particularly when efforts are coordinated to best leverage funds for positive change. Through pooling resources and knowledge to promote fisheries and aquaculture improvements, Sea Pact continues to drive change with increased funding for projects in fisheries and aquaculture improvement, and recently announced the recipients of their fifth round of project funding grants. Sea Pact has to date supported innovative industry improvement efforts through 17 grants to 13 projects across 8 countries. “Sea Pact’s mission is to improve the sustainability of global seafood by improving the fishing and fish farming systems we procure from” says Hamish Walker. “In addition to following through on the projects we have already funded, I am excited to work within Sea Pact to find new ways to make maximum impact, both through our annual RFP and grant awards, as well as other partnerships and projects”.
About Sea Pact: Albion Farms & Fisheries, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Ipswich Shellfish Group, Santa Monica Seafood, Seacore Seafood, Stavis Seafoods, J.J. McDonnell, A.C. Covert and Seattle Fish Co. comprise Sea Pact and all share an active and progressive approach to their sustainability commitments. These nine companies have joined together and are using their collective power to lead and drive improvement of environmental, economic, and social responsibility throughout the seafood supply chain. Sea Pact receives sustainability counsel from non-profit organizations FishWise, Ocean Outcomes, and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), and is a project under New Venture Funds 501(c)3 non-profit status. To learn more about Sea Pact, visit their website at www.seapact.org. Project funding opportunities are available through an annual request for proposals, as well as project applications that may be submitted on a rolling basis.