MSC names Brian Perkins director of Americas region

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) named Brian Perkins, a former commercial fisherman and international seafood trade show executive, as regional director of the Americas region. The position has not been permanently filled since Kerry Coughlin resigned from her post in October 2013.

Perkins will open a regional headquarters in Washington D.C. and oversee program directors in the United States, Canada and Latin America. His appointment is part of a strategy to expand the MSC’s presence in the Americas and increase availability of MSC-certified seafood across the region.

Perkins joined the MSC’s senior management team on 5 January to work alongside CEO Rupert Howes and Global Commercial Director Nicolas Guichoux. Perkins will also work closely with industry and the conservation community to recognize and encourage sustainable fishing practices that support healthy marine ecosystems.

“I am delighted to welcome Brian, who joins the MSC as our first regional director for the Americas under a revised and newly implemented regional structure,” said Howes. “Brian has a unique blend of skills and experience that will enable him to lead the team in their drive to add value to partners. He brings a wealth of knowledge which will help us to expand both the supply and demand of certified sustainable and fully traceable seafood throughout the region. I am very much looking forward to working with Brian over the coming years.”

“Working for the MSC is a great opportunity to make a difference within an industry which has been such a big part of my life. I join the team at an exciting time and look forward to working with fisheries, commercial partners and conservation organizations,” added Perkins, who has worked within the seafood industry for more than 40 years, most notably as executive VP of Diversified Communications, producer of industry trade shows Seafood Expo North America and Seafood Expo Global (formerly the International Boston Seafood Show and the European Seafood Exhibition). Diversified, based in Portland, Maine, USA, is the parent company of SeafoodSource.

“The MSC team has established the gold standard for third-party certification of wild fisheries and I believe that continued growth of the program will bring both environmental and socio-economic benefits to the Americas,” he added.

In his position as Regional Director Americas, and as part of an internal restructure of MSC’s Americas region to focus more deeply on specific geographies, Perkins will oversee program directors and their teams in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

Geoff Bolan, in Seattle, Wash., was recently appointed program director USA, while Jay Lugar, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has been named program director Canada. MSC plans to recruit for the program director Latin America position this year.

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