Members of the Measuring the Effects of Catch Shares Project (catchshareindicators.org) will host a Symposium at this year’s Annual Fisheries Society conference in Atlantic City. The symposium, scheduled for Monday afternoon, August 20, will explore the design of the project and its approach to inform decision making. Presenters will draw on discipline-specific analyses, challenges and results, with specific attention to interdisciplinary stories and lessons learned from these fisheries and program design aspects that can be applied elsewhere.
MRAG Americas contracted by the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council to conduct required 5-Year Review of Essential Fish Habitat in the US Caribbean. MRAG will be working closely with Council staff to update, describe and identify and map essential fish habitat (EFH), which is critical for fisheries management to minimize adverse effects of fishing, and identify actions to conserve and enhance EFH.
Contact Us
mrag.americas@mragamericas.com
Florida
Northeast
Headquarters
8950 Martin Luther King Jr St. N, Suite 202
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
T: 727-563-9070
F: 727-563-0207
Northeast Office
Danvers, MA
T: 978-768-3880
Alaska
Pacific Northwest
Alaska Office
Anchorage, AK
T: 907-677-8772
F: 907-677-6022
Northwest Office
Seattle, WA
T: 206-600-4144
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Op-ed: MRAG Americas Vice President Graeme Parkes stresses value of third-party audits.
December 9, 2022
ISSF President Susan Jackson sat down recently with conformity assessment body MRAG Americas Vice President Graeme Parkes to discuss the ISSF audit and compliance process. Read the article at www.seafoodsource.com.
MRAG Americas goes kayaking and paddle boarding in St. Petersburg, FL!
Updated: October 2022
From Left: Back row: Bob Trumble; Oleg Martens; Bryan Belay; Ben Hannah; Nick Hahlbeck; Clara Robison; Erin Wilson; Erin Hrastar; Carolina Vargas; Keith Stern-Pirlot; From Left front row: Amanda Stern-Pirlot; Jennie Harrington; Debra Welsh; Michealene Corlett; Haley Tomberlin; Monica Valle; Susan Alcorn. Not pictured: Andy Rosenberg; Graeme Parkes; Marcie Malone, Eileen Bautista
MRAG Americas completes first certification in North America under the FISH Standard for Crew
MRAG Americas auditors awarded the certification after extensive policy and procedure review, on-site vessel inspections, and face-to-face interviews of crew members.
FISH Standard APA Certification
APA FISH Crew Press Release
Changes at MRAG Americas
Updated: August 18, 2022
MRAG Americas has made several important and exciting organizational changes. We have established a new Executive Team, modified our company structure to bring all our third party certification work under a single Division, and created several new positions, recruiting from both within and outside the company. These and other changes are reflected on our website www.mragamericas.com.
Executive Team
Our new Executive Team is Graeme Parkes, Jennie Harrington, Amanda Stern-Pirlot and Debra Welsh. The Executive Team has oversight of all day-to-day actions and decision making required to run projects and maintain company processes. The Team will work closely on company business strategy and operations with the company President, Dr. Andrew Rosenberg, who is retiring from his position at the Union of Concerned Scientists at the end of August. Collectively, this experienced Executive Team will ensure the company continues its leading role in supporting successful, science-based, sustainable aquatic resources management in the Americas and around the world.
Jennie Harrington, previously Director of our Seafood Sourcing Division, has been promoted to Vice President and later this year will become Executive Vice President (EVP) and Head of the Executive Team. Jennie will be taking over from our current EVP Graeme Parkes, who will be taking on the role of Vice President: Project Management. Jennie will also retain senior oversight of our Chain of Custody certification operations within the new Certification Division.
Amanda Stern-Pirlot, previously Director of our Fisheries Certification Division, has been promoted to Vice President: Science. In this role, Amanda provides technical oversight of all our projects, ensuring that MRAG Americas maintains the strong science and evidence-based ethos for which we are well known. Amanda will play a prominent role in the Executive Team as Jennie’s deputy and also continue to oversee all Fisheries Certification projects.
Debra Welsh joins the Executive Team in her existing role as MRAG Americas’ Business Manager; responsible for managing the financial systems of the company, assessing financial performance and overseeing related administrative processes.
Divisional Structure
Certification Division: Our Fisheries and Chain of Custody certification activities are now united within a single Certification Division. This Division houses all our accredited certification programs including our new auditing activities under the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) and FISH Standard for Crew certification schemes, in addition to the existing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification programs. Oversight and management will be provided by Amanda Stern-Pirlot and Erin Wilson (Senior Manager) for Fisheries projects, and Jennie Harrington and Ben Hannah (Senior Manager) for Chain of Custody projects. The Certification Division will be supported by a single enhanced Quality Management System (QMS) lead by Michealene Corlett to ensure our procedures keep pace with our expanding certification project portfolio.
Seafood Sustainability Initiatives and Auditing Division (SSIAD): Our former Seafood Sourcing Division has been replaced by the SSIAD with Oleg Martens as Division Director. This Division provides expert advice, services and support for a range of seafood sustainability programs and initiatives that are not covered by third party standards like MSC or RFM. This includes our long standing independent auditing work for the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and verification of other sustainability and responsible sourcing claims.
Our Fisheries Technical and Fisheries Monitoring Divisions will continue to cover the same areas as before, with Monica Valle Esquivel as Principal Scientist in the former and Bryan Belay as Director of the latter.
Guidance and Tools for Traceability in Fishery Improvement Projects | Publications | WWF
MRAG Americas helped WWF put together this guide. WWF has produced this comprehensive guide to help Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) practitioners and stakeholders work successfully with the issue of seafood traceability to achieve improved FIP outcomes and encourage transparent and responsible practices across the fishing industry.
FIP Traceability Guidance Doc is now live and posted on WWF’s website, which can be found here:
MRAG Americas is starting a new project with the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) the RFMO responsible for ensuring the long term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the north west Atlantic. This work will result in a fully documented description of all methodologies being used for estimating tow catches by vessel skippers, NAFO compliance Observers, Scientific Observers and NAFO At-Sea Inspectors, together with the development of common best practices. We are very excited to be working with NAFO on this important project. We’ll be collaborating on this with our sister companies MRAG Ltd and MRAG Asia Pacific.
MRAG Americas, Inc. is pleased to announce that a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) re-assessment of US West Coast Limited Entry Groundfish Trawl fishery has begun. The assessment, which includes the limited-entry and Makah tribal components, will evaluate the fishery for compliance with the MSC’s Standard for well managed and sustainable fisheries. The assessment will include 18 groundfish species, with a site visit taking place in Seattle from 9-11 May.
MRAG Americas is starting a new project with the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) the RFMO responsible for ensuring the long term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the north west Atlantic. This work will result in a fully documented description of all methodologies being used for estimating tow catches by vessel skippers, NAFO compliance Observers, Scientific Observers and NAFO At-Sea Inspectors, together with the development of common best practices. We are very excited to be working with NAFO on this important project. We’ll be collaborating on this with our sister companies MRAG Ltd and MRAG Asia Pacific.
MRAG Americas, Inc. is pleased to announce that a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) re-assessment of US West Coast Limited Entry Groundfish Trawl fishery has begun. The assessment, which includes the limited-entry and Makah tribal components, will evaluate the fishery for compliance with the MSC’s Standard for well managed and sustainable fisheries. The assessment will include 18 groundfish species, with a site visit taking place in Seattle from 9-11 May.
Through the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), NOAA/NMFS have identified seafood species most “at-risk” for IUU fishing and fraud, and have developed an electronic traceability program to track these “priority” species from point of harvest to entry into U.S. commerce. The final rule became effective on January 9, 2017, with a compliance date of January 1, 2018 for most priority species.
More recently, NOAA/NMFS proposed a voluntary Commerce Trusted Trader Program (CTTP). The CTTP is intended to lessen the administrative burden of SIMP for companies willing to undergo third party traceability audits. Companies that are already certified for MSC Chain of Custody or similar certification may find these audits to be the simplest way to comply with the SIMP. MRAG Americas is ASI accredited and therefore qualified to provide CTTP auditing services. We are monitoring the progress of the proposed rule. Check back here for updates and/or contact us for more details on how we can help you.
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Attention seafood importers – NOAA/NMFS Seafood Import Monitoring Program (the SIMP) now in effect. Commerce Trusted Trader Program (CTTP) in public comment period.
Through the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), NOAA/NMFS have identified seafood species most “at-risk” for IUU fishing and fraud, and have developed an electronic traceability program to track these “priority” species from point of harvest to entry into U.S. commerce. The final rule became effective on January 9, 2017, with a compliance date of January 1, 2018 for most priority species.
More recently, NOAA/NMFS proposed a voluntary Commerce Trusted Trader Program (CTTP). The CTTP is intended to lessen the administrative burden of SIMP for companies willing to undergo third party traceability audits. Companies that are already certified for MSC Chain of Custody or similar certification may find these audits to be the simplest way to comply with the SIMP. MRAG Americas is ASI accredited and therefore qualified to provide CTTP auditing services. We are monitoring the progress of the proposed rule. Check back here for updates and/or contact us for more details on how we can help you.
