IntraFish Media named Jim Cannon, CEO of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), its 2009 Person of the Year, after readers chose him in online polling from six candidates selected by IntraFish editors.
Cannon was nominated for his work with SFP, a nonprofit organization he founded in 2006 to bring meaningful change to the sustainability of ocean fisheries and aquaculture operations.
“I want to congratulate Jim and his entire team at the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. Jim’s work is representative of the global trend toward sustainable seafood production, a trend that is changing the way seafood is bought and sold,” said IntraFish Media Publisher Pål Korneliussen. “It makes sense, then, that he is the IntraFish Person of the Year because the award honors those leaders who are influencing significant change within the seafood industry.”
Cannon has quietly emerged as a major leader in the environmental NGO community on sustainable-seafood matters.
He helped develop McDonald’s fish-sourcing guidelines and annual sourcing evaluations and has been a key advisor to Wal-Mart on seafood sustainability matters.
In 2008, he helped promote change in the Russian pollock fishery, which is now seeking Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. SFP currently has improvement projects underway in more than ten countries.
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