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].
– The Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) has elected a new board of directors heading into 2026.
“Over the last year, GAPP has invested heavily in telling the story of the [pollock] fishery, especially in Alaska,” said Jim Johnson, GAPP’s new chairman of the board. “Those efforts will continue with vigor over the next year, as well as GAPP’s Partnership Program and strategic efforts to build demand in key markets. The GAPP membership stands united behind these dual goals and are confident that GAPP will make significant progress against them next year.”
The 11 directors comprising the reconfigured board include Hunter Berns from Bearing North, Joe Bundrant from Trident Seafoods, Doug Christensen from Arctic Storm Management Group, Eric Deakin from the Coastal Villages Region Fund, Luke Fanning from the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, John Henderschedt from Phoenix Processor Limited Partnership, Mark JoHahnson from Westward Seafoods, Jim Johnson from Glacier Fish Company, Justin Johnson from the Akutan Catcher Vessel Association, James Mize from Golden Alaska Seafoods, and Jeb Towne from Global Seas.
Johnson’s position as chair replaces Bob Desautel, who served as GAPP chair since 2022.
Fanning will represent the community development quota group sector, replacing former board member Grant Mirick. Towne’s position as a board member has been elevated to the role of at-large director.
Roles that are staying the same include Christensen remaining the organization’s vice chairman, while Henderschedt remains as the board’s secretary.
“It is exciting to have new leadership in Luke, Jeb, and Justin join the GAPP board and bring their expertise, passion for our industry, and vision forward,” Johnson said. “With new additions come fond farewells; it is hard to express the gratitude that the entire industry owes to Bob and Grant for their years of service in guiding GAPP, especially during challenging times.”
The new board will vote on its full strategic plan for the coming year at its March meeting.
– The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. based global research and advocacy NGO, has added three members to its board of directors and two to its scientific advisory committee (SAC).
“ISSF is unique in bringing together scientists, NGOs, governments, and seafood companies in a single governance model,” ISSF President Susan Jackson said. “This diversity isn’t symbolic; it is essential to designing conservation measures that are both science-based and implementable in real fishing operations. Our new board members deepen that strength.”
Melissa Murphy, Josu Santiago, and Amanda Stern-Pirlot have joined the ISSF’s board of directors.
Murphy is a professor of marketing and corporate entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University. She’s also the president of Melissa Murphy Marketing and has worked with numerous seafood companies throughout her career.
Santiago is the head of tuna research at Pasaia, Spain-headquartered marine technology firm AZTI. He’s participated in several research projects in both fish biology and fish stock assessment.
Stern-Pirlot is the chief standards officer at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), leading development, management, and review of the MSC fisheries and chain of custody standards.
Meanwhile, Patrice Guillotreau and Graham M. Pilling have joined the SAC.
Guillotreau has been a senior researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development since 2020. He focuses on the organization and dynamics of fisheries and seafood markets, mainly in tuna fisheries, and has published several scientific articles and reports on aquaculture.
Pilling is the deputy director and head of the Oceanic Fisheries Program at the Pacific Community, where he leads the scientific committee work of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).
“We are honored to add Dr. Guillotreau and Dr. Pilling to our SAC,” SAC Chair and ISSF Vice President Victor Restrepo said. “Their experience – spanning stock assessment, harvest strategies, economics, and socioecological systems of tuna fisheries – will enhance the scientific foundation that drives ISSF conservation measures, policy appeals, and research efforts.”
