Sea Pact, a pre-competitive collaboration of ten leading American and Canadian seafood companies working together to drive industry sustainability progress, is pleased to announce that Sam Grimley will join the organization as Executive Director on February 1st, 2022. Grimley has served as a sustainability advisor to Sea Pact since its inception in 2013, and brings a wealth of experience in sustainability and engaging diverse networks of seafood supply chain stakeholders through pre-competitive collaboration efforts.
“Sea Pact’s member-companies are poised to grow our collaborative impact as we drive stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic, and environmental responsibility in the seafood supply chain,” said Stephanie Pazzaglia, Sea Pact’s Member Board Chair. “We’re excited to have Sam join us as Sea Pact’s Executive Director and to lead us in this next stage of our collective evolution.”
Grimley’s hiring comes as Sea Pact prepares to finalize and implement a plan of strategic growth in grant programs, outreach and partnerships. “I’ve had the opportunity to serve as an advisor to Sea Pact’s members for eight years and I am truly honored to now join them in a leadership role to jointly advance our shared mission,” said Grimley.
Grimley has family roots in commercial fishing in Rhode Island and has been dedicated to driving sustainability efforts across the global seafood landscape for his entire career. As he joins Sea Pact, Grimley is transitioning from his current role as Deputy Division Director/Markets Program Director for North America at Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP). During his nine-year tenure at SFP, Sam oversaw implementation of SFP’s 5-year industry leadership strategy, which included strengthening industry engagement within SFP’s supply chain roundtables and other pre-competitive efforts.
Prior to joining SFP in 2013, Grimley worked in the Sustainable Seafood Program at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute where he developed and managed GMRI’s Sustainable Seafood Culinary Partners program to promote local seafood through restaurants and food service efforts. Grimley has a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from University of New Hampshire and a Master of Arts degree in Marine Affairs from University of Rhode Island.
About Sea Pact
Together, Sea Pact members collective buying power would make them the 4th largest seafood company in North America and the 15th largest seafood company in the world. The unified members of Sea Pact are: Euclid Fish Company, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Inland Seafood, Ipswich Shellfish Group, J.J. McDonnell, North Atlantic Inc., Santa Monica Seafood, Seacore Seafood, Seattle Fish Company, and Stavis Seafoods. Sea Pact receives sustainability council from non-profit organizations FishWise, Ocean Outcomes, and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, and operational support from impact accelerator Multiplier. To learn more about Sea Pact visit www.seapact.org.
