David Vivas Eugui, Legal Officer at Office of the Director within the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD. He is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience in trade, environment, oceans economy, intellectual property, and sustainable development. He possesses a strong managerial, leadership and negotiations skills and more than 15 years of experience in strategic planning, programmatic design, implementation, team building, fundraising and setting of impact assessment systems.

He was also Senior Economic Affairs Officer and Legal Officer, at the Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy and at the Trade and Environmental Branches at UNCTAD, Deputy Programmes Director at ICTSD; Senior Attorney at CIEL; Attaché for Legal Affairs at the Mission of Venezuela to the WTO and Staff Attorney at the Venezuelan Institute of Foreign Trade. Mr. Vivas Eugui has a J.D. at the Universidad Católica Andres Bello, Venezuela, a L.L.M. at Georgetown University in the United States and Master on Transnational Business at Universidad Externado, Colombia.

Cor Blonk has a background as safety and fire safety expert. Mr. Blonk started his career in the fishing industry already 20 years ago in de position of Secretary of Labour Affairs of the Dutch Pelagic Shipowners Association of high sea fisheries and the Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association, a European pelagic shipowners association.  

In his profession, Mr. Blonk is involved in a large spectrum of crew related topics, such as collective bargaining agreements, implementation in national legislation of international legislation as IMO STCW-F, ILO Work in Fishing Convention and EU directives, safety and health on board, e.g. the development of a risk assessment methodology for stern trawlers, a last minute risk assessment for trawlers, the development of a life jacket specifically for the work on board fishing vessels and a project in which all fishermen in the fleet were given customized hearing protection. He was the initiator and is secretariat of the Fishing industry Safety and Health Platform, where representatives of workers, employers, administrations, fisheries schools, and maritime training institutes meet to share new developments and expertise on safety and health in the fishing industry. The FISH Platform was also the organisation that developed a syllabus containing a more detailed description of requirements for the STCW-F Basic Safety Training for All Fishing Vessel Personnel, that is negotiated during the revision of the STCW-F. Furthermore, he is a key stakeholder from the side of the fishing industry with respect to maritime education and training in The Netherlands. 

Mr. Blonk has been involved in the development of IMO/ILO/FA Safety Recommendations for Decked fishing vessels of Less than 12 metres in Length and undecked fishing vessels, took part in the negotiations on the Work in Fishing Convention at the ILO in 2004, 2005 and 2007 and is a member of the Dutch delegation to IMO HTW for the comprehensive review of IMO STCW-F during HTW 3, 4, 5 and 6 and during the negotiations on the Cape Town Agreement. Furthermore, he was participant in the ILO expert meeting on migrant fishers in September 2017

Citlali Gómez is a biologist by training and conservationist by conviction. She is the founder of Neminatura, a family-owned aquaculture business started by her mother and grandfather 25 years ago. Neminatura grows, processes and sells in Mexican markets rainbow trout in four farms located in rural central Mexico. With this operation she is providing working opportunities for 15 families, and generating not only a decent job, but using and conserving the natural resources (spring water and tree coverage) from the pine forests in high altitudes where the farms are located close to the wintering areas of the Monarch butterfly that migrates from Canada. 

Ms. Gómez also finds time to serve as director of the Board of COMEPESCA, the National Council for the Promotion of Seafood Consumption in Mexico. This organization is creating awareness among Mexican seafood consumers through communication campaigns encouraging them to eat more seafood, but look for sustainable, traceable and legal seafood for their purchases. The Pesca Con Futuro campaign has grown in stature and impact and is now recognized among diverse stakeholders as an important asset in the emerging seafood sustainability movement in Mexico.

Dr. Julio Morón has been the Managing Director of OPAGAC / AGAC since 2007. Before becoming Director, he was Scientific Advisor of the same Organization since 1997. 

From 1994 to 1997, he worked in the Seychelles for the Spanish Oceanographic Institute directing the Spanish Fisheries Office, which depended on the General Secretariat of Fisheries of Spain. From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Morón worked as an FAO Associate Expert for the Indo-Pacific Tuna Program (IPTP) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

Since he finished his studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1989, he has worked as a fisheries observer aboard several fishing boats, making embarkments to the Malvinas, Central Atlantic and Gulf of Cádiz fishing grounds aboard freezer trawlers and surface longliners.

Katarina Sipic is Secretary General of AIPCE (EU Fish Processors and Traders Association) and CEP (European Federation of National Organizations of Importers and Exporters of Fish), based in Brussels.

Prior to this Katarina served as Director for Brussels Office at Spanish Association of Wholesalers, Importers, Processors and Exporters of fish products and Aquaculture and was Member of the European Commission external speakers' team at Directorate General for Communication (Strategy and Corporate Communication) on topics of Regional and Cohesion Policy and Maritime and Fisheries Policy.

Hugo Byrnes joined Ahold Delhaize’s predecessor Ahold in 2006 and he was subsequently appointed to the position of Vice President Product Integrity. He is responsible for Ahold Delhaize’s food and non-food product policies, which cover product safety and responsible products. This includes social compliance, animal welfare and environmental issues. 

Mr. Byrnes has a Dutch Law degree from the State University Leiden, the Netherlands. He is a food lawyer whose career has focused on the food business and in particular on quality management and standardization. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Byrnes was the Director of The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Next to being a Board member for GFSI, Mr. Byrnes is co-chair of SSCI (Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative) and serves on the Steering Board of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI).

Omar Alfi is the Co-CEO of Pacifico Aquaculture, along with his partner Co-CEO Dan Farag.  He has been working at Pacifico for over seven years and currently oversees all aspects of production, special projects and government relations. Pacifico is the world’s only producer of ocean-raised striped bass and has grown dramatically in recent years to over 4,000 of standing biomass and sales to marquee customers including Whole Foods, Costco and numerous Michelin starred chefs and notable foodservice outlets.  Pacifico Aquaculture is proud to be the only aquaculture facility in Mexico to hold a 4-star certification from the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s BAP (Best Aquaculture Practice) program as well as a sustainably farmed certification from Whole Foods Market and a Good Alternative rating from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium’s SeafoodWatch Program.

Mr. Alfi has always loved the ocean and feels privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to a global solution for food security and environmental protection through the continued development of a sustainable aquaculture industry.  Prior to Pacifico, Mr. Alfi worked in the mining industry in South Africa, as a private equity investor in Dubai and in investment banking in Los Angeles. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Yahira Piedrahita is an Ecuadorian aquaculture engineer graduated from the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), with a Diploma in Fishery Economics and a Master's degree in Management of Bio Aquatic Resources and Environment. She began her professional activity in the shrimp industry in 1990, working as Field Technician, Technical Representative, Production Manager until she held manager positions. Between 2007 and 2012, Ms.  Piedrahita worked in the government sector as General Director of Aquaculture and General Director of the National Fisheries Institute,where she was in charge of the administration and regulation of the shrimp industry, as well as the certification of quality and food safety of exports of fishery and aquaculture products from Ecuador. Ms.  Piedrahita has also worked as an expert in fisheries and aquaculture for the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries of Netherlands (CBI).

In 2015, she joined the European Union project called Capacity Building Initiative for Trade Development in India (CITD) as an expert in quality control of fishery products, giving training workshops to officials of the Indian health authority; also she has participated in the revision of the residue monitoring plan for shrimp exports to the EU and in the preparation of the Manual of Good Practices for the cultivation of white shrimp in India. In 2016, she carried out the diagnosis of the shrimp industry in Nicaragua and Colombia, as a consultant for the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development (UNIDO). Since 2011, Ms. Piedrahita is the Executive Director of the National Chamber of Aquaculture, an organization that brings together all the players in the Ecuadorian shrimp industry.

Shivani Kannabhiran is a specialist in risk-based due diligence and has worked at the OECD’s Centre for Responsible Business Conduct since 2012. She leads on the work on responsible agricultural supply chains; in particular the implementation of the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains. Shivani provides technical advice to policy makers on integrating due diligence considerations into policy and standards. She also collaborates with industry, civil society and workers to prevent and address risks in human rights, labour, land, the environment and governance. 

Prior to her work in the agricultural sector, Shivani worked on due diligence in the minerals sector developing subject matter knowledge on child labour and gender. 

Tulika Bansal works as a Senior Adviser in the Human Rights and Business Department of the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), Denmark’s National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). During her 9+ years at DIHR, she has provided expert advice on human rights and carried out human rights trainings and conducted human rights impact assessments globally to leading multinational companies in various sectors, to promote uptake of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Ms. Bansal has led and carried out numerous country-level human rights impact assessments (HRIA) in various sectors, including food and beverage, agriculture and fisheries energy, extractives and the tourism sector. She is currently involved as a core team member of the institute’s Sustainable Oceans project, leading a sector level impact assessment of the salmon farming industry in Chile. As part of this project she engages with salmon farming companies, workers, communities as well as the government, to promote responsible business conduct in the industry, both in Chile and at the global level. Her geographical expertise focuses on responsible business in Asia, in particular Burma/Myanmar and India, and increasingly in Latin America. Ms. Tulika is a frequently invited speaker and presenter at conferences and events, particularly on human rights impact assessment and child rights and business. She is also a guest lecturer in children’s rights and business at Leiden Law School, the Netherlands.  

Before joining DIHR, Ms. Tulika worked for the Dutch trade union confederation and for grassroots NGOs in Thailand and India, focusing on corporate accountability and revenue transparency. She holds an LLM in Public International Law from Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is a native Dutch and English speaker and fluent in Spanish and Hindi.

Recommended materials:

• Webpage of the Danish Institute’s Sustainable Oceans project: https://www.humanrights.dk/projects/
  promoting-human-rights-fisheries-aquaculture
• Two-pager: Sustainable Fisheries And Aquaculture Cannot Be Achieved Without Human Rights https://www.humanrights.dk/sites/humanrights.dk/files/media/migrated/one_pager_sustainable_
  fisheries_and_aquaculture_cannot_be_achieved_without_human_rights_0.pdf
• Roundtable Report - Human Rights In The Salmon Farming Industry: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/
  rafto/Roundtable-Human-rights-in-the-salmon-farming-industry-2019-lo.pdf  (jointly with Rafto Foundation and Institute for Human Rights and Business)
• Enhancing Accountability For Small-Scale Fishers – Using Human Rights Monitoring To Guide Effective Implementation Of SDG Target 14.B https://www.humanrights.dk/sites/humanrights.dk/files/media
  /dokumenter/udgivelser/enhancing_accountability_for_small-
  scale_fishers_.pdf
• International Expert Meeting On the Contribution of Human Rights to the Sustainable Development of Fisheries https://www.humanrights.dk/sites
  /humanrights.dk/files/media/migrated/key_messages_agenda_of_proposed_action_0.pdf
• African Expert Meeting on Operationalising a Human Rights-Based Approach to Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Sectors  https://www.humanrights.dk/sites/humanrights.dk/files/media/migrated
  /key_messages_of_the_african_expert_meeting_dihr.pdf

Ignace Beguin Billecocq is Manager, Environment and Climate, and coordinates the UN Global Compact’s Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business since 2018. He worked with the UN Global Compact from 2014 to 2015 to mobilize companies in the lead up to the 2015 COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris. 

Previously, Mr. Beguin served as Senior Consultant for large corporations on responsible communication and integrated reporting. He holds a Master’s Degree on International and European Environmental Law from University Aix-Marseille, France. 

Carmen Pedroza-Gutiérrez, PhD, is a fisheries socio-economist based at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her main interest is in gender dynamics in fisheries, particularly the gender division of labor in fish transformation activities and trade.

Other interests are fisheries governance and IUU fishing activities. Her research has been based on the socioeconomic relations along the fisheries value chain activities in inland and marine fisheries in Mexico. Ms. Pedroza currently conducts a research project on the sea cucumber and illegal fishing in Yucatan, and the role of women in the fishing activity.