SILVER SPRING, MD — SeaWeb’s Seafood Choices program is pleased to announce the selection of fifteen finalists for the 2012 Seafood Champion Awards. The fifteen winners represent a diverse group of seafood stakeholders who are leading sustainable seafood efforts around the world, including a seafood retailer, marine conservation organizations, seafood companies, government representatives, a world renowned athlete turned conservationist, and chefs.
Since 2006, the Seafood Champion Awards have annually recognized individuals and companies for outstanding leadership in promoting environmentally responsible seafood. Seafood Champions exemplify outstanding contributions in the context of environmental, social, and economic sustainability, and advance sustainable seafood beyond best practices. A panel of seven independent judges who have an expertise in seafood sustainability selected the finalists.
The finalists for the 2012 Seafood Champion Awards are:
•Austral Fisheries, Osborne Park, Australia
•Bahamas Marine Exporters Association, Nassau, Bahamas
•Blue Ventures, Toliara, Madagascar
•Charles Redfern, Fish4Ever, Reading, United Kingdom
•Francois Pasteau, L’Epi Dupin, Paris, France
•Jimmy Martinez Ortiz, Sub Secretariat of Fisheries, Manabi Province, Ecuador
•Kristofor Lofgren, Bamboo Sushi, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
•Laky Zervudachi, Direct Seafoods, London, United Kingdom
•Loblaw Companies Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, Canada
•Richard Buchanan, AgriMarine, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
•Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group, Shetland, Scotland
•Taylor Shellfish Farms, Shelton, Washington, United States of America
•Thomas Kraft, Norpac Fisheries Export, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
•Victor Hamusa Kargbo, Government of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone
•Yao Ming, WildAid Ambassador, Beijing, China
The winners of the 2012 Seafood Champion Awards will be announced on September 6, 2012 at the 10th International Seafood Summit in Hong Kong. The Seafood Summit is organized by SeaWeb’s Seafood Choices program with the goal of fostering dialogue and partnerships that lead to a seafood marketplace that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.
The Seafood Summit commemorates a decade of dialogue on sustainable seafood with the theme “Evolving Solutions for New Horizons.” Topics to be discussed at the Summit include ecolabelling and certification, supply-chain traceability, green business policy and marketing, social capital, consumer demand & awareness, fisheries management and trade of keystone species, including sharks, tuna, and salmon, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU), sustainable aquaculture, the live reef fish trade, food security, and more.
The Seafood Summit will be held at The Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong from September 6 – 8, and will also include field trips and workshops before and after the Summit to give delegates hands-on experience in the Asian marketplace. To register and for more information, visit www.seafoodsummit.org. You can also be part of the conversation by joining the Seafood Summit group on LinkedIn.
SeaWeb is the only international, nonprofit organization exclusively using the science of communications to fundamentally shift the way people interact with the ocean. To accomplish this important goal, SeaWeb convenes forums where economic, policy, social and environmental interests converge to improve ocean health. We transform knowledge into action by shining a spotlight on workable, science-based solutions to the most serious threats facing the ocean, such as climate change, pollution and depletion of marine life. We work collaboratively with targeted sectors to encourage market solutions, policies and behaviors that result in a healthy, thriving ocean. By informing and empowering diverse ocean voices and conservation champions, SeaWeb is creating a culture of ocean conservation. www.seaweb.org. Follow us on Twitter: @SeaWeb_org.
Seafood Choices is an international program of SeaWeb that promotes information sharing and collaboration, setting the vision for sustainability for the seafood industry and conservation community. By building relationships and stimulating dialogue, SeaWeb’s Seafood Choices program is encouraging and challenging all sectors of the seafood industry to move along the road toward sustainability. www.seafoodchoices.org. Follow us on Twitter: @Seafood_Choices. Use the official hash tag of the Summit when tweeting: #SS12HK
Source: SeaWeb
