Global Aquaculture Alliance appoints director of strategic engagements

 

The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has appointed Melanie Siggs to the newly created position of director of strategic engagements.

Siggs will help explore the creation of products and services that meet GAA's goal of adding value to the organisation's proposition while advocating, educating and demonstrating best practices. She will look at the development of non-core activities, identifying opportunities to work with new partners and helping to lead teams to develop proof-of-concept work, prototypes and pilots.

Siggs has acted as an ad hoc advisor to the organisation for many years, particularly during the development of a new governance structure that led to GAA's Standards Oversight Committee in 2008, as well as during the formation of an education platform. She has been a board member of the Responsible Aquaculture Foundation, GAA's educational arm, since 2013.

"I very much enjoy the Global Aquaculture Alliance vision, energy and 'can do' attitude to finding ways that support the development of responsible aquaculture in ways which work for business and best practices. I continue to be passionate about the role of good standards in helping to create change and provide the assurance frameworks needed," Siggs said. "I'm not a technical expert, we have many of those, but there is also an imperative to see how we stay ahead of the wave, responding to new challenges, creating efficiencies and sharing knowledge. To that end, I'm excited to join GAA more formally to explore innovative and collaborative initiatives. These are going to be critical in meeting the demand for seafood in the coming years as we need to enable responsible, but considerable, growth and attract investment."

Added GAA's executive director Wally Stevens: "Melanie has for many years been a guiding light for those of us involved with sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. We are delighted to be able to capture more of her time in support of the GAA."

Siggs will continue in her role as associate director at Sancroft International in London while serving as GAA's head of innovation.