
Why an international treaty for the high seas is crucial to biodiversity
An international treaty is needed to help protect the high seas, an area teeming with marine life, yet prone to overfishing and other man-made problems.
Tom Pickerell is a marine biologist with nearly 20 years’ experience in seafood sustainability, including wild fisheries and shellfish aquaculture, certification schemes and consumer guides, and social responsibility in seafood. He is founder of Tomolamola Consulting, a sustainable seafood advisory service for businesses. Before becoming the Executive Director of the Global Tuna Alliance, he was the Global Tuna Director for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and led SFP’s fresh & frozen and canned tuna programs. Previous to that, he worked for Seafish, the UK Seafood Industry Authority, where he was Technical Director. Tom was also the Senior Science Manager for the Seafood Watch program at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Earlier, he worked at the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB), where he managed the UK Shellfish Industry Development Strategy (SIDS) and later became the Director, WWF UK, where he was the Fisheries Policy Officer; and for the UK government's Defra, where he held a variety of different policy and strategy roles in fisheries and aquaculture. He has a degree in Marine Biology, a master’s degree in Analytical Biology, and a PhD in shellfish aquaculture.
An international treaty is needed to help protect the high seas, an area teeming with marine life, yet prone to overfishing and other man-made problems.
Global Tuna Alliance's '2025 Pledge towards Sustainable Tuna' helps the supply chain take action against poor fisheries management and forced labour.
The WEF's Tuna Traceability Declaration comes into force this year – a crucial step towards stemming illegal fishing that harms both ecosystems and economies