To keep up to date with the latest personnel changes across the seafood industry, SeafoodSource is compiling a regular round-up of hiring announcements and other personnel-related shifts worldwide. If you have an announcement, please send it to [email protected].
– U.K. seafood trade association Seafish has named Colin Faulkner as CEO effective 12 January 2026.
He will take over for Marcus Coleman, the organization’s long-time CEO, who is leaving the group to serve as CEO of the Water Management Alliance.
Faulkner has served the U.K. Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) as its head of international fisheries and seafood trade Policy, since 2018.
"I'm very pleased that we have been able to attract someone of such high caliber and industry knowledge as Colin Faulkner to join us as Seafish CEO. We have known and worked successfully with Colin for many years, and we look forward to continuing that to great effect in his new role,” Seafish Board Chair Mike Sheldon said.
“Joining Seafish feels like the start of an exciting new chapter, both for me and for the organization. I can’t wait to get started on working with all parts of the seafood industry across the U.K. and the whole team at Seafish to take the organization to new heights,” Faulkner said.
– Monroe, Washington, U.S.A.-based smoked salmon company Echo Falls Seafoods has promoted Jeff Gernand and Rachael Minieri to director of national sales for branded products and director of private label sales, respectively.
"[The promotions] reflect our strategic vision for growth and our confidence in Jeff's and Rachael’s leadership. Their deep industry knowledge and proven track records position us to better serve our partners and drive innovation in both branded and private-label offerings,” Echo Falls Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ron Christianson said in a statement.
Gernand has worked for Echo Falls since 2021, and before his time with the company, he served as national retail sales manager for Slade Gorton. Minieri has served as Eastern regional sales manager at Echo Falls for the past year and formerly worked at Mowi as a marketing and brand manager.
Echo Falls was formerly part of the Ocean Beauty brand but recently became a standalone entity.
The company noted that it was working to grow its market share around the U.S. and that Gernand and Minieri would play a role in that growth.
– Neal Woods is the new commercial director of U.K. operations at John West.
A 12-year veteran of the organization and its parent company, Thai Union, Woods most recently served as general manager at John West Ireland. He has also served as interim general manager of John West Netherlands.
In a LinkedIn post about the news, Woods thanked the Irish and Dutch teams with which he had worked.
“After almost nine years of Thai Union opportunities outside of the U.K., it feels great to be coming home. I'm looking forward to play my part in delivering the inspiring growth plans that we have and working with the U.K. team,” Woods said.
