Board of Directors

Mr. Lazazzara is Thai Union Group Director, Global Fish Procurement, and has more than 30 years’ experience in the seafood sector. He began his career with Palmera in Italy, followed by the U.S.-based StarKist. In 1997, he joined Heinz European Seafood. Today, he is part of the Thai Union team. Over the years, Mr. Lazazzara has held diverse roles in Supply Chain. His experience includes: General Manager Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT – Seychelles), General Manager European Facilities in Portugal and France and MW Brands Supply Chain Director prior to the company’s acquisition by Thai Union.

Dr. Rohan Currey is responsible for ensuring that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard is based on robust scientific evidence and best practices in ecosystem-based fisheries management — and also implemented effectively in MSC fisheries assessments.

Before joining MSC, Dr. Currey was a Principal Scientist at New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries, specializing in marine mammal science and Antarctic fisheries science. He represented New Zealand in the International Whaling Commission and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). In CCAMLR, he was the New Zealand Government's principal science advisor for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area and the Ross Sea toothfish fishery.

Dr. Currey earned a Ph.D. in marine mammal science from the University of Otago, with a research background in cetacean population biology, ecology, mark-recapture analysis, population viability analysis and risk assessment. He is a member the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cetacean Specialist Group; invited participant at the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee, where he convenes the sessions on bycatch; and member of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Susan Jackson is president of ISSF, a global partnership among scientists, tuna processors, and environmental nonprofits to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting a healthy marine ecosystem.

Prior to joining ISSF, Jackson was the vice president for government/industry relations and seafood sourcing for Del Monte Foods, where her responsibilities included government relations at the federal, state, and local levels, and acting as Del Monte’s representative to trade and industry associations.

Jackson was also responsible for the purchase of all raw tuna and tuna co-pack manufacturing for Del Monte’s StarKist brand. Jackson joined the H.J. Heinz Company in 1997 as an attorney in the law department, later working with the company’s seafood sourcing and other areas of procurement. Jackson graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BS in economics and received her law degree from Duke University.

Dr. Aqorau has more than 20 years' experience in Pacific fisheries, including at the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) as Chief Executive Officer and Interim Director. He is an Adjunct Visiting Fellow in the School of Government, Development and International Affairs, University of South Pacific, Fiji, and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Oceans, Resources and Security, University of Wollongong.

Before joining PNA, he was Legal Officer, Legal Counsel and Deputy Director of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency in the Solomon Islands; Legal Advisor of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Fiji; and Legal Officer in the Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Aqorau has authored journal articles and newspaper commentaries and also hosted fisheries seminars and conferences.

He has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Law from the University of Wollongong; a Master’s of Law from the University of British Columbia; and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Papua New Guinea.

Giuseppe Di Carlo is Director of the WWF Mediterranean Marine Initiative, which brings together 8 WWF Offices towards a joint conservation effort. He is responsible for supporting Mediterranean countries to achieve key conservation and management targets, specifically on fisheries and MPAs. Since 2008, he has been involved in developing and implementing ecosystem-based management into conservation strategies.

While working at Conservation International from 2008 to 2011, Dr. Di Carlo provided support to several country programs around the world, from East Africa to South East Asia, Madagascar and the Mediterranean. After completing his Ph.D. in marine science, he worked as a research scientist at NOAA in the US focusing on coastal marine ecosystems and their adaptive response to disturbance, with special attention to global issues such as climate change, on which he has published extensively.

Dr. Di Carlo was President of the World Seagrass Association between 2010 and 2014. From 2012 to 2018, he was a Member of the Board of Directors of MedPAN, the Mediterranean Network of MPA managers. He is part of WWF’s Ocean Leadership Group, which sets the organization agenda and goals on ocean protection. He represents WWF in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Javier Garat is the secretary general of the Spanish Fishing Confederation, Cepesca, and currently serves as chairman of both the Association of National Organisations of Fishery Enterprises in the European Union (Europêche) and the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA).

Garat has been the fishery advisor of the International Sustainability Unit´s Marine Programme of HRH the Prince of Wales. He is member of the European Economic and Social Committee of the European Union and member of the Spanish Royal Academy of the Sea. He has also participated as a lecturer in several public hearings of the Committee on Fisheries of the European Parliament, in conferences organized by the European Commission, by the Nordic Council of Ministers, and in numerous international and national fisheries forums, including FAO Fisheries Committee, the OCDE, ILO, IUCN, EFARO, and others, and as adviser member of the Spanish Delegation in UN Meetings. In the private sector, Garat is a shareholder of Albacora Group and member of the advisory board of SATLINK.

Garat received a degree in law and a graduate degree in EU law by the Complutense University of Madrid (CEU San Pablo) and master’s degree in international and European law by the Catholic University of Lovaina (U.C.L. Belgium). He has lectured postgraduate-level courses at the IE University, the Spanish Maritime Institute, the University of Vigo, the University of Santiago de Compostela, and Barcelona University.

Bill Gibbons-Fly is the Executive Director of the American Tunaboat Association (ATA). Previously, he served as a Senior Executive at the U.S. Department of State, where he led the development and implementation of United States’ international fisheries policy, including as lead negotiator for the United States on a wide range of international treaties, agreements, and arrangements.

He has served as Chairman of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the Western Central Atlantic Fisheries Commission (WECAFC), the Preparatory Conference for the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC), and numerous other international fisheries bodies.

Mr. Gibbons-Fly holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University and a B.A. (with honors) from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Bill Holden is the Senior Tuna Fisheries Outreach Manager for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a global fisheries certification and ecolabel program. He began working with the MSC in February 2009 and is based in the Sydney, Australia, office.  His work involves fisheries outreach in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with a focus on tuna fisheries.

Another component of his work is outreach to fisheries in South East Asia and the Pacific, working towards sustainable fishing practices. Mr. Holden has a wealth of experience in fisheries management from more than 20 years as an owner, operator and skipper of snapper and tuna longliners in the Kingdom of Tonga. During that time, he was the President of the Fishing Industry Association of Tonga (FIAT) and a director of the Pacific Islands Tuna Industry Association (PITIA).

As well as his vast industry experience and knowledge of fishing and marketing operations, Mr. Holden’s work in associations has given him an understanding of regional management, and he maintains an extensive Pacific network. Mr. Holden graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a B.A. in Political Science and Communications.

Mr. Nomura is currently the fisheries policy advisor to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia. Prior, he served in the Fisheries Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo, he held position in the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC, as first secretary in charge of fisheries and would later be assistant-director general and head of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Nomura holds a BSc in marine biology from the University of Tokyo, Japan, a master of law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a master of public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In addition to his work as vice president, science, Dr. Restrepo currently serves as chair of the ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee and as a member of the ISSF Board of Directors. Previously, he worked with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

Dr. Restrepo has also served as the chief of the NOAA/NMFS Sustainable Fisheries Division in the southeast US, where he acted as head scientist of the USA Delegation to ICCAT. He has also spent time as a population dynamics expert at ICCAT, as an associate professor at the University of Miami and as an IPA research specialist at the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Office of Science and Technology in Silver Spring, Maryland.

He has also attended numerous scientific meetings of ICCAT, ICES, NAFO, FAO and US, and chaired ICCAT working groups on Precautionary Approach and Stock Assessment Methods. In addition, he has also served as the chairman of GFCM-ICCAT working group on Mediterranean Large Pelagic Fishes. Dr. Restrepo holds a PhD in population dynamics from the University of Miami, as well as a BSc in marine science and biology from the University of Miami.

Dr. Martin Tsamenyi is Professor of Law and was the former Director of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Dr. Tsamenyi is a world-recognized expert in the Law of the Sea, oceans policy, marine environmental law, and fisheries law and policy. 

Dr. Tsamenyi has served as fisheries law advisor to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and legal counsel to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and was Chairman of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). He has also been a consultant to several inter-governmental organizations and governments around the world. In 2012, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) “for service to maritime and fisheries law in the Asia Pacific region, through the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, and to legal education.”

Dr. Tsamenyi has provided advice and drafted legislation for a number of countries to combat IUU fishing and take corrective measures in the context of the European Commission’s IUU yellow card identifications, including Fiji, Vanuatu, Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Thailand. Dr. Tsamenyi holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Ghana and Master of International Law and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the Australian National University.