Margaret Henderson, owner of Miami’s Henderson Strategies, a government relations consulting firm, is replacing Ewell Smith as the executive director of the Gulf Seafood Institute. Smith is stepping down from the position.
“Margaret’s skill set is superb working in DC. As I move on to pursue other interests, she will be able to further leverage those long-standing relationships we’ve developed,” Smith told SeafoodSource.
Henderson, who also served as the VP of government relations for the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), has worked with numerous Gulf seafood groups, including the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the Gulf Oyster Industry Council, the Louisiana Oyster Task Force and the Friends of the Fishermen Foundation.
During her time at NFI, she worked closely with former NFI Chairman Mike Voisin, to help ensure the Gulf seafood community received more than USD 100 million (EUR 74 million) in federal emergency appropriations following the 2005 disastrous hurricane season.
Henderson will focus on GSI’s priority issues, which include reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act and management of the red snapper fishery in the Gulf. In addition, “new federal guidance on the health benefits of seafood, are moving quickly and Congress will definitely hear GSI's voice on all of these as the legislative process rolls on,” Henderson told SeafoodSource.
Henderson also plans to finalize GSI’s governance and structure in concert with an aggressive membership outreach campaign spanning the five Gulf states.
“We will also be strengthening our work on GSI's other two platforms, science and education, to include focused work on improving fisheries data collection within the charter-for-hire community,” she said.
