The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) today welcomed five new members to its Stakeholder Council.  The MSC Stakeholder Council provides the MSC Board with advice, guidance and recommendations from a variety of informed perspectives about the operations of the MSC in pursuit of its mission. The Council is made up of two chambers, one commercial, made up of interests from the catch, processing, supply, retail, and food service sectors; and the other public interest, made up of interests from academia, science, management, and the marine conservation community.  The Council’s members reflect diverse experiences, geographies and interests in relation to the work of the MSC.

The following new Stakeholder Council members commenced their terms in May 2012;

Commercial chamber
Mr Eduardo Gonzalez-Lemmi, SAN  ARAWA S.A.  , Argentina
Mr Keith Kenny, McDonald’s Europe, UK

Public interest chamber
Mr Guillermo Cañete, Fundación Vida Silvestre (Wildlife Foundation), Argentina
Dr Alasdair Harris, Blue Ventures, UK/Madagascar
Mr Peter Trott, WWF Australia

Brief biographies of the new members are given below;

Mr Eduardo Gonzalez-Lemmi

Mr Gonzalez-Lemmi is an Argentine fisherman and entrepreneur who started his first fishing company in 1983. In 1995 he founded the company Glaciar Pesquera SA, in conjunction with Clearwater Seafoods of Canada, which went on to get the world’s first scallop fishery certified.  He founded another fishing company in 2002, called SAN  ARAWA S.A.  , now in a joint venture with Nichimo Co. Ltd of Japan,  which has successfully secured MSC certification for the Argentine hoki fishery.   Mr Gonzalez-Lemmi is one of the founding members of the Association of Sustainable Fisheries, a body made up of representatives of MSC-certified fisheries, and currently serves on its Board.  He has also been a member of the Groundfish Forum since 1993, made up of leaders from the global whitefish business, and has been a speaker at various international seafood conferences, in Europe, the United States and Japan. His two fishing companies are committed to continuing work in and promotion of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Mr Keith Kenny

Mr Keith Kenny is senior director for McDonald's Europe Supply Chain.  He is responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s sustainable supply strategies and also leads the commercial teams for beverages, fish, poultry and produce.  In addition to his pan-European responsibilities he also heads up Supply Chain for Northern Europe.  Keith joined McDonald’s Supply Chain in the UK in 1989, performing various functions including head of quality, supply chain & food strategy.

Mr Kenny has been involved with numerous sustainability initiatives including McDonald’s sustainable fisheries policy and partnership with MSC; and in 2001 he pioneered the development of the McDonald's agricultural assurance programme, which implements McDonald’s sustainable agriculture requirements.  Mr Kenny participates in many industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the European Animal Welfare Platform, Chair of the SAI beef group and the European retailers’ soy working group. He also leads the company's involvement in priority programmes such as the research and development of commercially-viable sustainable farming systems and McDonald’s Flagship Farms. 

Mr Guillermo Cañete

Mr Guillermo Cañete coordinates the Marine Programme of Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina (FVSA, Argentina Wildlife Foundation). His work at the FVSA focuses on the promotion of sustainable fishing and the creation of a marine protected areas network within Argentine waters.

Mr Cañete is a trained ecologist who began work in 1979 within the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP).  He was the head of the Department of Technology, Operations and Information, with responsibility for scientific observers and landing sampling projects.  Mr Cañete’s career at INIDEP has focused on the creation of a fishery information system based on the monitoring of commercial fleets, and he has worked on bycatch issues, discard estimation and the application of analytic assessment models.

Mr Cañete has attended national, regional and international meetings concerning scientific and management issues, and authored or co-authored more than 40 scientific papers. He has been part of a number of research campaigns, both in commercial fishing and scientific vessels; and since 1993 has organised and led 13 scientific observer training courses. Since 2011 he has also taught at the National Technological University.

Dr Alasdair Harris

Dr Harris has a PhD in tropical marine ecology, and is the founder and executive director of Blue Ventures Conservation, an award-winning marine conservation organisation with operations in the UK, Belize, Malaysia, Ghana and Madagascar. Blue Ventures promotes holistic, integrated approaches to marine conservation, coastal poverty alleviation and economic development, managing diverse activities ranging from protected area development to livelihood diversification and public health service provision. Dr Harris oversees all scientific research and conservation activities at Blue Ventures, and is responsible for strategic planning, and the development of partnership programmes with governments, NGOs, communities and institutions in host countries.

Dr Harris is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, member of the World Commission on Protected Areas, a Fellow of the global association of leading social entrepreneurs, Ashoka; and is the winner of the IUCN-WCPA young conservationist award (2010), and the Condé Nast Traveller Environmental Award (2009).

Mr Peter Trott

Mr Peter Trott currently serves as the Policy Manager – Fisheries Markets Oceania for WWF Australia, a post he has held for four years.  Mr Trott leads the sustainable seafood market programme and is responsible for several key strategic seafood market partnerships which encompass the retail sector, brand owners and aquaculture companies. He has been involved in the MSC programme, and fishery certifications across the world for many years; and has acted as co-client for several high profile Australian fisheries.

Before joining WWF, Mr Trott worked in fisheries management with two Australian state-based fisheries agencies managing sharks, squid, octopus, small pelagics, rock lobster, and scalefish. He has gained over 12 years’ experience in fisheries management, resource sharing and ecosystem principles and holds a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries Management and Aquaculture, and an honors degree in Aquatic Sciences (aquaculture systems and disease).

“We are delighted to welcome these new members to our Stakeholder Council, and excited about the diversity of talent that they bring to an already highly talented body,” said Rupert Howes, CEO of the Marine Stewardship Council.  “Our Stakeholder Council increasingly represents the myriad faces, interests and geographies of sustainable fishing and provides a wealth of independent thinking and highly informed input to our Board.”