December 2025
Wishing everyone—our team, clients, partners, and community—a very Happy Holiday Season. We are grateful for where we are today and are excited to see where the next chapter takes us. All of us at MRAG Americas, Inc., want to express our sincere gratitude to our dedicated team and valued clients. Your trust, collaboration, and dedication are what make everything we do possible.
November, 2025
On November 19, our team gathered at the St. Petersburg Conference Center for our annual all-staff meeting, where our divisions shared internal updates, aligned our future goals, and reflected on the progress we’ve made. These conversations continue to shape the direction of our mission and reinforce the strength of our organization.
The following day, we stepped outside the conference room to enjoy the beautiful Florida weather. We went sailing with Suncoast Sailing, shared plenty of laughs bowling at Ten Pin Lanes, and wrapped up our day together with a team dinner. Moments like these remind us how valuable it is to connect beyond the workplace and celebrate the people who make our work possible!
Spring and Summer 2025
The MRAG Americas family is growing! Over the past few months, we have welcomed several new team members to our roster. Please browse our MRAG Americas Team page for more information on everyone’s background and education. You will see that we have compiled a diverse team that works well together.
Nicholas (Nick) Coleman, Fisheries Certification Specialist
Nicholas Coleman is a member of our Certification Division as a Fisheries Certification Specialist and does assessments and reviews fishery compliance with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Certified Seafood International (CSI) sustainability standards. Nicholas was a Biologist at the NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami, Florida and he has also served as an Environmental and Fisheries Policy Analyst for the NOAA Office of Sustainable Fisheries in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Thaliya (Tammy) Glossup, CoC Auditor
Tammy Glossup joined MRAG Americas in September 2025 as a Chain of Custody Auditor on the CoC Certification Team. She conducts MSC and ASC audits throughout the U.S. She holds a B.S. in Marine Science from Kasetsart University in Thailand. She has more than seven years of experience advancing seafood sustainability through fisheries improvement projects (FIPs), supply chain traceability, and certification. Tammy also previously worked for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Thailand Department of Fisheries and Trade.
Milene Persico, SSIAD Program Administrator
Milene Persico is our Program Administrator for our Seafood Sustainability Initiatives and Auditing Division (SSIAD). She works alongside Clara Robison, assisting with the ISSF PVR Level 2 audits. She was director of sales for 3 years and holds an AAS in Business Administration from ASA College and an AA in Arts from St. Petersburg College.
May 2025: Seafood Expo North America
Several MRAG Americas team members attended Seafood Expo North America in Boston this year. This expo has proved to be an invaluable source for our company over the years. Not only do we network with industry suppliers and colleagues, but we also gain a better understanding of seafood processing, which is a necessity in our field.
May 2025: Data-Limited Fisheries
Certified Seafood International (CSI), previously known as RFM, posted this article on LinkedIn: Fishery managers rely on data to make decisions. Some fisheries have extensive data providing detailed insights into stock abundance and fishing effort. Many fisheries globally, however, operate in more data-limited contexts. Experts agree that responsible management of data-limited fisheries is possible, and our program has developed methods to assess and certify fisheries operating in data-limited contexts. We are pleased that CSI’s Data Limited Framework will be applied in the upcoming assessment of the Alaska herring fishery, which was recently initiated in partnership with the third-party certification team at MRAG Americas, Inc. We look forward to initiating certification of additional data-limited fisheries globally as our program grows.
March 2025
The Triennial is the largest aquaculture conference and tradeshow held in the world. Aquaculture 2025 was held March 6th through the 10th in New Orleans, LA. There were over 4,000 attendees from over 90 countries. This conference, held every three years, combines the annual meetings of the National Shellfisheries Association, Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society, World Aquaculture Society, and the National Aquaculture Association. The next Triennial will be held in Seattle, WA, in 2028.
Resource: NOAA Fisheries Website
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 Certified Seafood International (CSI) 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 CSI. 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:
