Sam Grimley appointed as executive director of Sea Pact

Sea Pact has hired former Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) Deputy Division Director and Markets Program Director Sam Grimley as its inaugural executive director.

Sea Pact, which includes Euclid Fish Company, Fortune Fish and Gourmet, Inland Seafood, Ipswich Shellfish Group, J.J. McDonnell, North Atlantic Inc., Santa Monica Seafood, Seacore Seafood, Seattle Fish Company, and Stavis Seafoods, is a pre-competitive collaboration working to drive industry progress on sustainability issues.

Grimley, who will start 1 February, will lead Sea Pact’s effort to finalize and implement a strategic growth plan covering grant programs, outreach, and partnerships. Sea Pact Member Board Chair Stephanie Pazzaglia said the organization valued Grimley’s experience in sustainability and engaging diverse networks of seafood supply-chain stakeholders through pre-competitive collaboration efforts.

“Sea Pact’s member-companies are poised to grow our collaborative impact as we drive stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic, and environmental responsibility in the seafood supply chain,” Pazzaglia said. “We’re excited to have Sam join us as Sea Pact’s executive director and to lead us in this next stage of our collective evolution.”

During his nine-year tenure at SFP, Sam oversaw implementation of SFP’s five-year industry leadership strategy, which included strengthening industry engagement within SFP’s supply chain roundtables and other pre-competitive efforts, according to Sea Pact.

Grimley has a bachelor of science degree in political science from University of New Hampshire and a master of arts degree in marine affairs from University of Rhode Island. Prior to joining SFP in 2013, Grimley worked in the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Sustainable Seafood Program, where he developed and managed GMRI’s Sustainable Seafood Culinary Partners program to promote local seafood through restaurants and foodservice efforts. Grimley has served as a sustainability advisor to Sea Pact since its inception in 2013.

“I’ve had the opportunity to serve as an advisor to Sea Pact’s members for eight years and I am truly honored to now join them in a leadership role to jointly advance our shared mission,” Grimley said.

Photo courtesy of Sam Grimley/Twitter