Florida Sea Grant seafood specialist Steve Otwell will join a panel of fellow experts to discuss perspectives of ethical seafood sourcing on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, from 6:30 to 8 pm at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
“Advancing Ethical Practices in Seafood Sourcing” is sponsored by the Poe Center for Business Ethics, part of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida, and Darden Restaurants.
Each panelist will be given approximately five minutes to highlight topics and issues regarding conservation in the seafood industry, consumers’ role in sustainability, and innovative practices in global fisheries. Following their presentation, panelists will respond to questions from the audience.
The program will be held in Room 150 of Hough Hall on the UF campus. The event is free and open to the public. Download Flyer
A recording of the program is available at http://youtu.be/4uRRxlQBSsc.
Additional panel members include:
Brandon Tidwell, moderator, is the manager of sustainability for Darden Restaurants. He is responsible for the development and implementation of corporate sustainability strategies and policies across all of Darden, integrating environmental considerations into the operations, culture, and supply chain, which includes more than 1,500 suppliers in 30 countries. He joined Darden from FedEx where he served on the Global Citizenship team, leading the corporation’s philanthropic strategy for the environment and education. He founded EarthSmart Outreach, a collection of urban ecosystem projects with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, launched the FedExCup Fore!Ever program with The First Tee, and created the FedEx Transportation Fellows with EMBARQ. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business. He also holds a masters in social work from Baylor University and a certificate in philanthropy from New York University. He was the 2010 recipient of Net Impact’s Force for Change Award.
Tj Tate is sustainability director for My Gulf Wild. As recent Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance, she worked closely with the Alliance’s Board of Directors and diverse groups of fishermen, communities, environmental groups, and decision-makers to strengthen the reef fish industry to achieve sustainability and accountability. She helped institute the first reef fish Fishery Improvement Project in the Gulf of Mexico to implement a seafood tagging and branding program ensuring traceable and responsibly harvested seafood. She also worked toward the 2010 implementation of the Grouper IFQ system. Through this work she became the Director of Sustainability for Gulf Wild and formally established Gulf Wild as a non-profit organization focused on the branding of seafood conservation. She has recently appointed the organization’s inaugural board of directors and Conservation Standards Committee, a first-of-its-kind committee ensuring higher conservation standards from all sectors of the supply chain from fishermen to consumer. She completed her undergraduate work at Florida State University and pursued her masters in marine science at the University of San Diego.
Kevan Main is director of the Mote Marine Aquarium Aquaculture Research Park, which develops the technologies needed to raise fish species with a high market value and/or a high recreational demand. She has over 25 years of experience in the culture of tropical and subtropical animals from Asia, the Western and southern Pacific Islands, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of California and Hawaii. Main has traveled extensively throughout Asia and the U.S. working with researchers and farmers to facilitate the exchange of aquaculture information and technologies between the two regions. She is immediate past president of the World Aquaculture Society. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in biological science from California State University, Northridge, and a PhD in biological sciences from Florida State University.
Laurel Bryant is chief of external affairs for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in political economics and environmental sciences and began working for the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, predecessor to the House Natural Resources Committee. In 1994 she joined the National Marine Fisheries Service where among other positions, she has served as the executive director to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, and launched a number of key initiatives to provide more timely information about agency science and stewardship mission, including the weekly electronic newsletter FishNews, and the seafood web interface FishWatch. In her current position, she has focused on building strategic partnerships for the agency to strengthen communications with a broader spectrum of stakeholders involved with the seafood supply chain and coastal fishing communities, and build greater familiarity and public support for U.S. responsibly managed fisheries and seafood.
For additional program information, contact Judy Brashear, Poe Center for Business Ethics, 352.392.0221.
