Austral Fisheries has announced the appointment of Martin Exel to the position of Managing Director of the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship, or SeaBOS, a group of companies responsible for 10% of the world’s seafood supply.
SeaBOS members are known as ‘Keystone Actors’ because of their prominence in all levels of the seafood supply chain. This global initiative created by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, with ten of the world’s largest commercial seafood companies – which includes wild catch, aquaculture, and aquaculture feed production.
In his new position, which will take up approximately six6 months of each year, Martin becomes the new global face of SeaBOS and will be spearheading its ambitious international agenda. He commenced his new position on the 1st July 2019, and will be splitting his time between his ongoing work at Austral Fisheries in Perth and his new duties with SeaBOS, which is based in Europe.
‘My mandate at SeaBOS is to work with the Keystone Actors in their desire to transform the global seafood industry,’ he said.
‘It’s the sort of challenge I thrive on, and I will be working hard in collaboration with those businesses and scientists to help secure the long-term future of the seafood industry and the health of our oceans.’
On taking over his new role, Martin acknowledged the vision of Prof. Henrik Osterblom and Prof. Carl Folke from the Stockholm Resilience Centre who, along with their team of scientists, have been working since 2016 to develop SeaBOS. He also applauded the leadership of the ten seafood industry Foundation Members, who formally agreed in 2018 to establish SeaBOS as an independent legal entity, with Mr. Ito, the President of Maruha Nichiro, the world’s largest seafood company as the inaugural Chair.
SeaBOS is a unique partnership of industry leaders, with goals which include reducing illegal fishing and eliminating modern slavery practices in the seafood industry, implementing traceability and transparency in supply chains, ensuring sustainable aquaculture and feed production, working to reduce plastics and antibiotics in the marine environment, as well as working with governments to help introduce legislation and regulations.
‘This appointment is a tremendous opportunity for me personally, and also very clear recognition of Austral Fisheries’ status as leaders in the Australian seafood industry. It is only possible for me to do this with the strong support of the Austral board, Theo Kailis, and David Carter and I am humbled by their agreement and commitment to me taking up the role,’ Martin Exel added.
‘Martin’s appointment to SeaBOS comes with our enthusiastic support,’ said Austral Fisheries’ CEO David Carter.
‘While we’ll see him less as he splits his time between both roles, we take great comfort in knowing that Martin is driving an ambitious, transformative agenda that aligns perfectly with the Austral purpose in support of better outcomes for our oceans.’
