MSC’S NEW FISHERIES OUTREACH MANAGER

MSC’s new Fisheries Outreach Manager excited to support more fisheries gain ‘gold standard’ certification. The Marine Stewardship Council’s commitment to progress more fisheries towards certification has received a major boost following the appointment of a new Senior Fisheries Outreach Manager with a great deal of experience with its work on fisheries management, sustainability and improvement projects.

Lewis Tattersall, who starts work for MSC’s UK & Ireland Team on 17 November, brings a host of relevant experience to the role, most recently as Head of Fisheries Management at Seafish, for whom he’s worked since 2017.

Lewis says:

“There’s a lot of overlap between my role at Seafish and the work I’ll be overseeing at MSC – it’s just that the focus will shift towards securing and maintaining certification, the gold standard of seafood sustainability, that provides market opportunities and validates the hard work of fishing communities to demonstrate their credentials. It’s a natural next step from what I have been doing, and I can’t wait to get started.

“I’ll also be working with a lot of the same people, just wearing a different hat. It’s very much a stakeholder-facing role and that’s the part of my work I really enjoy – working with fishermen.”

During his time at Seafish, Lewis worked closely with stakeholders all along the seafood supply chain – from fishermen to processors and wholesalers. He helped establish the Fisheries Management Team at Seafish and over the past few years has focused on developing and delivering Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) for crab, lobster, scallops and Nephrops. More recently the Seafish team has worked with the MSC to take on the UK Nephrops and King Scallops FIPs, formally under MSC’s Project UK.

George Clark, Programme Director, MSC UK & Ireland, welcomed Lewis to the organisation, saying:

“We’re delighted to be bringing someone of Lewis’s experience and calibre into our UK & Ireland team. With his industry knowledge, network and experience with FMPs and FIPs, we’re very optimistic about supporting and progressing the important fisheries improvements and certification work ahead of us.

“There is a real opportunity to see fisheries like Scottish Nephrops and initiatives including the South West Seafood Sustainability Hub, deliver on their aim to achieve MSC certification for new UK fisheries. Lewis’ arrival provides a real boost to those aspirations.”

Lewis will be based in Edinburgh but will also regularly be at MSC’s London HQ and brings to the role the academic rigour of two marine biology degrees and over 15 years in the field. In that time he has worked for the British Antarctic Survey as a fisheries biologist in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and coordinating a long-running Scottish shark tagging project.