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Known as the Responsible Aquaculture Foundation since 2009, our 2021 transition to The Center for Responsible Seafood formally embraces our work with wild-caught fisheries. While our mission remains the same, our years of global experience have honed our vision. By sharing knowledge and innovation, TCRS strives to advance its vision of a world meeting the critical need for seafood produced through regenerative processes. We are driven by our responsibility to ensure a healthy planet and healthy people.
OUR MISSION: To advance responsible seafood production through our unique global hub for knowledge sharing, enhanced by applied research and collaborative programs.
OUR VISION: A world meeting the critical need for seafood produced through regenerative processes.
Dr. Everett Barnes, Jr. is the president and owner of RMC Research Corp., a private government consulting company he joined in 1972 and acquired in 1985. RMC Research provides professional services in scientific research; program/policy evaluation; program development, training and technical assistance; and knowledge utilization, to a variety of federal and state agencies, foundations and private entities. Barnes’ areas of expertise include grant writing; program development/management; formative and summative evaluation; and online learning content development and delivery. Barnes holds an undergraduate degree in history and geography, a master’s degree in school administration, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership and evaluation.
Dr. George Chamberlain began his aquaculture career as a researcher and extension specialist at Texas A&M University in the United States. He later directed aquaculture programs at Ralston Purina International and Monsanto, and he led the development of an integrated shrimp farm in Malaysia. In 2004, he co-founded breeding, nutrition and farming businesses ultimately branded as Kona for Penaeus monodon and Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp in Brunei, Malaysia, and Hawaii. Chamberlain previously served as president of the World Aquaculture Society and assisted in founding the Global Seafood Alliance, for which he continues to serve as current president.
Dr. Jon Grant is a professor in the Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is also the NSERC-Cooke Industrial Research Chair in Sustainable Aquaculture. Jon has researched aquaculture-environment interactions for 30 years. Working with both the shellfish and finfish farming industries, he has pioneered concepts for modelling carrying capacity in field culture. This work has led to rigorous application of ecosystem-based management, marine spatial planning, and epidemiological approaches to aquaculture, including incorporation of ocean technology, remote sensing, and GIS. He has worked extensively in designing criteria for ecocertification standards. Jon is also a leader in benthic ecology. He has a BSc from Duke University and a PhD from the University of South Carolina.
Peder Jacobson was an early practitioner of shrimp farming in Latin America. He was owner and executive director of the Seajoy Group, a vertically integrated shrimp producer with operations in Ecuador, Honduras, and Nicaragua until the company was sold in 2018. Jacobson was also a founding member and director of the Global Seafood Alliance. In addition, he was a founder and president of the Aquaculture Certification Council, an organization that implemented the Best Aquaculture Practices (now the Global Seafood Alliance).
Wally Stevens, Executive Director of the Global Seafood Assurances and President of the Responsible Aquaculture Foundation, began his career in the seafood industry more than 49 years ago. He has held leadership positions in large, publicly traded corporations, small startup salmon farming operations, and mid-sized family-owned companies. His responsibilities have included all aspects of the seafood production chain including fishing vessels, aquaculture hatcheries and farms, shore side processing facilities, cold storage operations, wholesale seafood distribution, and manufacturing. Wally served as Chair of the National Fisheries Institute in 2001 and co-founded its Future Leaders program. For the past 12 years Wally was the Executive Director of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, an advocacy NGO for responsible aquaculture.
Melanie Siggs has extensive experience with working internationally across both commercial and NGO sectors addressing issues relating to food and timber, although she is best known for her work on fisheries and aquaculture in the past 10 years. She is a Director of the Global Seafood Alliance, a Board Director of The Center for Responsible Seafood and Global Seafood Assurances, and Advisor to the World Economic Forum’s Ocean Program ‘Friends of Ocean Action’. Melanie is a former Special Advisor to HRH The Prince of Wales’ International Sustainability Unit. Melanie is a frequent speaker on sustainable seafood at events globally, and a regular facilitator of High Level Panels for the UN (General Assembly and FAO), OECD, World Economic Forum and others. She holds an MSc in Responsibility & Business Practice.
Dr. Michael Tlusty is an Associate Professor of Sustainability & Food Solutions in the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts at Boston where he links science, technology, and innovation to help transform the world’s aquatic food systems. His approach is to find solutions to create more food, waste less of it and to help the entire value chain do a better job creating the food we already produce. He has an undergraduate degree in Animal Science from the University of Illinois, and a PhD in Animal Behavior and Ecology from Syracuse University. It is this combination of agriculture and theoretical ecology that allowed him to successfully engage in the aquaculture arena. Previously, he spent over 20 years working with industry to model the carrying capacity of salmon aquaculture in Newfoundland, and then with NGOs to develop robust certification programs and market-based initiatives. As an academic, Michael educates the next generation leaders necessary to develop integrative solutions to create enough food for our burgeoning population. In his spare time, he uses the lessons learned in studying seafood value chains to create solutions to stop the trade of illegal wildlife products.
Iain Shone is currently market development director for the Global Seafood Alliance. Shone was previously sourcing director at Lyons Seafoods Ltd. in the United Kingdom, where he was in charge of global procurement and responsible sourcing. He has 29 years of service in the seafood industry, bringing valuable experience in seafood market requirements and the development, improvement and certification of aquaculture and associated industries. Shone has supported many industry initiatives through his career, such as chairing the initial working group on aquaculture at the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative. He also currently sits on the Board of the Seafood Importers and Processors Alliance of Europe (SIPA) and the Advisory Panel to Seafish in the UK.
Laura Rose, Grant Writer & Project Manager, comes from a USAID family and has lived and worked around the globe. At the age of 14, a defining summer in the Philippines included working on a project assessing various biofuels for small fishing boats. Laura has interwoven her passions for marine conservation, aquaculture, and international development through her work in grant writing, program development & strategy, project coordination & evaluation, communications & outreach, and freelance writing. She has consulted for Caribbean Harvest Foundation (Haiti), The Ocean Foundation (Washington, DC), SeaWeb, Aquaculture without Frontiers, MAO Kenya, and Auburn University. Prior to that, she enjoyed 10 years at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in aquaculture, oyster and seagrass restoration, and marine education. Laura holds a BA in Mathematics & Marine Science from Smith College, a Master of Aquaculture from Auburn University, and a Master of Secondary Education from William and Mary. She is a PADI Divemaster and is always looking forward to her next dive trip.
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TCRS is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax deductible.