Sustainable oceans champ to lead Conservation Alliance
New executive director will lead four-year strategy
for community of sustainable seafood NGOs
By SeaWestNews
Sustainable oceans champion, Mariah Boyle,
has been appointed as the new Executive Director Conservation Alliance for
Seafood Solutions.
The Conservation Alliance is a community of
sustainable seafood NGOs organizations from North America, Europe, South
America, and Japan that believes seafood production is a powerful driver of
change for the health and biodiversity of our oceans and the economic and
social well-being of individuals and communities around the world.
“Over the past decade, Mariah’s tireless
work in this community has demonstrated her talent for building communities and
forecasting sector-wide trends,” said Alliance Board member, Jack Kittinger,
Senior Director of Global Fisheries and Aquaculture at Conservation
International. “Her specialized set of
skills uniquely position her to be the bold and savvy leader the Alliance needs
right now as we look to do more, faster.”
“Her combined subject matter, operational,
and contextual experience will enable her to hit the ground running as the
Alliance launches into its 2020-2024 strategy this year,” he said.
After ten years of working together to
mobilize change, the Alliance recognized that it needed to do more to drive
toward its vision, and so began a strategic planning process in 2018, the group
said in a statement.
The Alliance 2020-2024 Strategy, released
January 2020, presents a plan of action toward an ambitious goal: by 2030, 75%
of global seafood production will be environmentally sustainable or making
verifiable improvement, and adequate safeguards will be in place to ensure
social responsibility.
Returning from a sabbatical where she
thru-hiked 4,500 miles of the Pacific Crest and Appalachian Trails, Boyle said
she feels energized and ready for the task at hand.
“On these hikes I became more
self-sufficient and made tough decisions in challenging conditions. I am a
better leader now because of this journey. I have renewed focus and energy, and
I’m eager for the opportunity to use my deep technical knowledge and experience
to build effective collaborations to accelerate impact in this community.”
Prior to her sabbatical, Boyle spent ten
years protecting our ocean and those reliant on it through her work leading the
traceability division at FishWise, a CA-based nonprofit sustainable seafood
consultancy that provides market-based tools to support a more responsible
seafood industry.
During her tenure at FishWise, she proved
herself a visionary as she designed, staffed, and implemented novel programs
with retail market leaders such as Albertsons Companies, Hy-Vee, and Target.
“I am looking forward to building upon my
experience working on sustainable seafood, traceability, and social
responsibility in this new role. I am excited about the opportunity to innovate
and find ways to achieve this vision quickly, partnering with those that have
been working on sustainable seafood for many years, and those new to the
community.”