John Connelly, President of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI)
What is a key component to the success of you and/or your organization within the seafood industry?
NFI members aren’t just an industry, they’re a community and it’s important to recognize that when we’re advocating for them– the farmed salmon producers have dramatically different concerns both from a market and regulatory perspective than, say, the canned tuna folks. Recognizing this, NFI focuses our efforts on key issues that affect the community as a whole. From a trade perspective, it’s important for all NFI members to have market access to across the globe, as seafood is one of the most traded commodities in the world. NFI focuses on efforts to keep market access open, whether it be to create processing jobs here in the U.S. or expand markets in Europe and Asia for fish harvested here.
How would you sum up your philosophy as an influential leader in seafood?
NFI staff are very familiar with my motto, “No job too big, no job too small.” Lobbying for the ratification of treaties or for dramatic regulatory changes like the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are examples of important components of what we do but so is writing a letter challenging a small regional newspaper that misreported about seafood. Thinking holistically is key. The big things need attention because they’re big, but if you ignore the little things they tend to grow.
As a non-profit, what impact does the National Fisheries Institute have on the seafood industry? How does it advocate for those in seafood?
NFI members are advantaged not only in the market, but in the regulatory, legislative, and judicial realm by investing in NFI. They have a partner, an advocate, and a champion on Capitol Hill, in the media, in the nutrition community, all the way down to NFI staff going through the Federal Register every day to see if any new notices, rules, or regulations affect our members. NFI also provides a mechanism for our members and partners in their supply chain to fight against economic fraud with the Better Seafood Board (BSB). The BSB is the premier industry-led effort that seeks to ensure fair and lawful business practices are being followed by the entire seafood supply chain, which is essential for consumer confidence in seafood products.
What can we expect to see from NFI heading into 2016?
2016 will bring new federal dietary guidelines (the Dietary Guidelines for Americans(DGA’s)) that are only updated every five years and shape nutrition policy in the United States. NFI’s registered dietitians have been an active part of the DGA process and will be educating folks in the health and nutrition community about seafood’s role in a healthy diet, as outlined in the DGAs. We anticipate more on the seafood fraud front, where we hope to see an even bigger focus on enforcement, like we saw this year. We also expect to see more regarding labor challenges in the seafood supply chain oversees. NFI has zero tolerance for labor abuses of any kind and continues to call for specific, actionable reporting in the media so we and our members can continue to be active in helping root out mistreatment of workers.
