Glenn Reed is retiring after more than 20 years as president of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association, a nonprofit trade association representing seafood processing companies.
Reed’s retirement will become effective at the end of 2019, with the PSPA announcing on 22 July that Christopher Barrows, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, will become the organization’s new president beginning 15 August.
"I am honored to be selected by PSPA to carry forward these important messages. I enjoyed my time in the U.S. Coast Guard patrolling the waters off Alaska and in the North Pacific Ocean as well as living in Juneau and traveling throughout Alaska to coordinate Coast Guard activities and develop lasting partnerships,” Barrows said in a press release. “I look forward to the opportunity to address future challenges facing the industry as well as to help ensure the continued sustainable management of fisheries resources."
Barrows represented the United States Coast Guard as part of the North Pacific Anadromous Fisheries Commission, the International Pacific Halibut Commission, the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, the U.S.-Russia Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on Fisheries, the U.S.-Canada Bilateral meetings on Ocean and Fisheries, the United Nations' Consultative Process on the Oceans and the Law of the Sea, and in meetings of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Barrows has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a master’s degree in marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island. Once he assumes the presidency, he will be based in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
“The Board of Directors at PSPA is very pleased to welcome Chris to the organization. Chris possesses the necessary skillset to lead PSPA well into the future and we look forward to working with him to address the issues facing the seafood processing industry in Alaska,” PSPA Board Chairman Tom Enlow said in the release. “The PSPA Board is very grateful for Glenn’s leadership as President of PSPA for the past 20-plus years. His tireless advocacy for PSPA’s member companies, Alaska seafood processing, and the coastal communities dependent on the rich Alaskan seafood resources, will be missed. We congratulate his retirement and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
In an interview with SeafoodSource, Reed said he had no regrets from his tenure.
“I'm not a big fan of regrets,” he said.
Reed said he’s proud of his legacy of providing markets for fishermen, supporting communities through the creation of job opportunities as well as spurring local investment and a growing tax base, and encouraging PSPA members to form tighter bonds to the communities in which they operate.
“As a former local government manager and resident of coastal Alaska, these activities and values appeal to me,” he said. “PSPA's support of hunger relief through SeaShare and sponsorship of the Bean's Cafe Toast to the Coast event in Anchorage also illustrates these values. PSPA takes the long view and prioritizes science-based resource management such that the Alaska seafood industry can be healthy and maintained over time.”
Reed said the PSPA has changed over the years, with consolidation shrinking its overall membership total while growing the organization’s size as a whole. But he said the organization has tried to be consistent in its support for “sustainable management programs that offer the best known potential to protect the long-term viability of fishery resources while competing in global commodity markets.”
“In the post-rationalization of halibut, sablefish, pollock, and crab, we are continuing to promote stable management and trade policies for the fisheries on which we are dependent, to make those fisheries more globally competitive,” he said.
Reed lists his greatest accomplishment as “being part of bringing professional staff to PSPA.”
“PSPA has consistently hired top professional people to represent our members and contribute to the Alaska seafood industry and fisheries management and policy,” he said.
Moving forward, the organization’s biggest challenge will be finding consistent sources of labor, Reed said. He also listed tariff instability, the potential wide-ranging effects of climate change, and working to ensure “meaningful participation in the international sustainability certification process” as other major challenges facing the organization and its incoming president.
And as for Barrows, Reed gave his seal of approval.
“I have met Chris and I am getting to know him,” Reed said. “I believe the organization is in good hands with Chris, the staff, and the board he will be working with.”
Photo courtesy of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association
