Technical Assurance Committee

Francisco has been with MarinTrust, the leading Certification Program for Marine Ingredients, from its early development within IFFO (the marine ingredients organisation), to becoming the CEO of MarinTrust in 2020. With over 15 years of experience in the food sector, specialising in marine ingredients, Francisco has unique expertise in responsible sourcing, sustainable production practices, and digital traceability in the marine ingredient supply chain. This expertise in traceability led him to join the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) Supervisory Board, while also contributing to the Technical Committee shaping the GSA Seafood Processing Standard. Since 2014, Francisco has also been focused on fisheries for reduction in South East Asia and Latin America through the MarinTrust Improver Programme, resulting in positive changes at the legislative level of previously struggling fisheries. All of this is part of his overall mission of cementing the future of marine ingredients as vital and sustainable sources of nutrition for the world.

Francisco holds a MSc in Fisheries Engineering from UNALM (Peru) and a MSc in Marine Ecology and Environmental Management from Queen Mary University (London).

 Jose Llorente is PhD Biologist  (University of Granada, Spain) with an Aquaculture Master degree and more than 20 years’ working experience in different aquaculture areas and species, and food safety. Jose moved into standard certification in a dual role: as auditor for different sustainability and environmental third-party standards covering production (ASC, BAP, GlobalGAP, EU Organic, Naturland, Biosuisse, etc), compound feed manufacturing (GlobalGAP CFM v3.0), sustainability of Marine Raw Materials (IFFO RS and MarinTrust CoC), and Scheme Manager (MarinTrust and GlobalGAP) in SAI Global (GlobalTrust) and NSF. Jose started to work for LRQA in 2021 where he is now Aquaculture Technical Manager.

Emma Matheson is the Quality Systems Manager for  BioMar Ltd, UK. Emma has worked within the Scottish Aquaculture industry as a valued employee of BioMar Ltd. for 20+ years and has been involved in a number of Technical and Quality roles during that time. Currently responsible for Quality Systems and certifications, including UFAS, ASC, BAP, EU Organic, Naturland, HALAL, Label Rouge, COOP Italia, she has also been Formulator for BioMar for 15 years. This provides her with a great understanding of a number of feed related standards and the associated requirements of the raw materials being utilized. Emma is also a lead auditor for the Environmental standard ISO 14001:2018.

Mr. Kevin Edwards is the Vice President, Global Market Development with the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability, a non-profit Foundation with a vision and mission focusing on the adoption and implementation of digital, interoperability traceability in wild-caught and aquaculture supply chains.

Mr. Edwards's experience in the audit and certification business sector occurred during his 19-year career with the SGS Group. Having received training in non-food, product inspections, factory quality and capacity audits, and corporate social responsibility, we worked for five years on client projects in the Americas and Asia. During that time, he co-authored their first supply chain security audit in the wake of the US Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and participated in auditor training. He also led the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) technical working group (non-food) with SGS representatives from US, UK and Asia. 

 Mr. Edwards's experience in the Food sector began with second party GMP & HACCP Audits of factories exporting product for leading international brands and private label retailers. He represented SGS at Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) meetings and presented a session after his work with the US FDA and SGS audit teams in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia demonstrating the BRC-GS Food certification audits. Driven by the expanding interest within the food sector for corporate social responsibility monitoring of food harvesting and processing and having received additional SGS training in CSR and standards such as SMETA and BSCI, he worked on global projects primarily in the Fruit & Vegetable, and Seafood sectors.  This work included the management of the GAA BAP scheme within SGS until additional colleagues were hired. He regularly attended the technical working group meetings. 

 Mr. Edwards was selected to represent SGS within the Seafood Task Force, and that work also included assessments of seafood and feed ingredient standards for gaps between them and other CSR tools. With one colleague at SGS, they developed SGS's own standard, checklist and training tools for auditors conducting fishing vessel audits. 

James holds a BSc Agric. (HONS) in Animal Nutrition and completed his studies as an Animal Nutritionist in 1997. Since then, he has dedicated his career to this field. His professional journey began in South Africa, where he worked as a Dairy Advisor for a milk buyer. James then advanced his career by working as a Technical Advisor for various Compound Feed Manufacturing (CFM) companies. His responsibilities included formulating rations for ruminants, marketing finished feed to clients, and expanding market share for the CFMs.

After earning his MBA, he transitioned into managerial roles, leading a technical team for a premix company. For the last three years before joining GLOBALG.A.P., he managed a CFM, gaining valuable leadership experience. Currently, he is proud to be part of the exceptional team at GLOBALG.A.P., where he serves as the Senior Technical Expert Feed.

James has extensive experience in quality management systems (QMS) and assurance systems across multiple companies. At Parmalat, he developed and implemented procedures for milk producers to meet factory quality requirements. At Molatek, Meadow & De Heus, he sold products based on robust QMS and addressed quality issues by liaising with the factory and conducting sample analyses.

At 4 Mix International, he managed a calf/lamb milk powder manufacturing plant, ensuring compliance with QMS and investigating performance issues. Managing a Compound Feed Manufacturing facility at The Coop, he ensured adherence to ISO standards and participated in annual audits.

Currently, at FoodPLUS, he oversees the Compound Feed Manufacturing standard, advocating for the implementation of quality management systems in CFMs. This breadth of experience underlines his capability in QMS development and assurance.

Niall O'Rahelly is a Marine Biologist with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied
Ecology and over 16 years of expertise across aquaculture, seafood certification,
project management and seafood production. He holds additional qualifications,
including an Diploma in Leadership and Management and specialised training in
seafood certification standards.

Currently serving as the Irish Shellfish Environmental Manager at the Sea Fisheries
Protection Authority (SFPA), Niall manages the Irish sanitary survey programme,
engages with stakeholders, and represents the SFPA at national and international
forums. Prior to this role, he was instrumental in building Ireland's aquaculture
innovation ecosystem as Ireland’s Aquaculture Community Manager with HATCH,
collaborating with Irish seafood stakeholders to drive investment and innovation in the
marine sector.

Niall has also managed technical and certification programmes at SAI Global and held
senior roles at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).
His career began with hands-on roles in fishing and aquaculture production in Ireland
and Australia.