Martin Exel will take up the position as managing director for Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS). He has a background in fisheries management, working with the Australian government, and has also been General Manager Environment and Policy for Austral Fisheries – the first carbon neutral fishing company in the world. He has also coordinated the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO), which has been instrumental for addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Southern Ocean.

In his new position Exel will become the new global face of SeaBOS and will be spearheading its ambitious international agenda. Exel said that “SeaBOS is a unique partnership of industry leaders, with goals which include reducing illegal fishing and eliminating forced labor 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.”

The SeaBOS initiative was established in 2016 and has been coordinated and facilitated by the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It currently consists of ten of the largest seafood producers in the world, engaged in wild capture fisheries, aquaculture and feeds, with companies based in Europe, North America and Asia. Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will remain the key scientific partners to the initiative. Martin Exel has been identified as having the expertise and skills to lead the SeaBOS initiative to its next, fully operational phase.