Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA Administrator and Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker at this year’s SeaWeb Seafood Summit. The summit will be held 9-11 February in New Orleans, La., USA.
Sullivan was recognized as one of Time magazine’s top 100 most influential people in 2014. Her background in planetary and ocean sciences will set the tone for the summit. NOAA has prioritized the sustainable management of marine resources and engaging stakeholders in the expansion of aquaculture. The summit will also cover issues raised by the Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud.
“It is truly a privilege to share at the Summit the expertise of such a brilliant environmental leader who has seen our world in ways very few can imagine,” said Dawn M. Martin, president of SeaWeb.
“Seafood is an ambassador of global ocean health and Dr. Sullivan’s dedication to coastal and ocean resiliency helps support healthy fishery populations and the communities that depend upon them. The participation of a leader of such commitment and caliber at the Summit will help to spur decisive action within the sustainable seafood movement,” Martin added.
Sullivan served as an oceanography officer for the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1988 to 2006. In 2003, she was named NOAA’s chief scientist. In 2011, Sullivan became NOAA’s deputy administrator, in a role in which she focused on satellite acquisitions and environmental monitoring missions. This past March, she was confirmed as NOAA administrator.
“The international seafood community welcomes distinguished leaders like Dr. Sullivan,” said Mary Larkin, executive VP at Diversified Communications. “To host such an environmentally passionate and accomplished leader with an outstanding reputation of bringing diverse environmental communities together with policymakers is truly invigorating. With such a collective group of influential global seafood leaders planning to attend already, the Summit is well equipped to solve some of today’s most pressing seafood issues.”
