Past Trustees

Alexa Dayton built the Gulf of Maine Research Institute Marine Resource Education Programme – the flagship training programme for the GMRI. She now takes on the role of Executive Director at the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries. Alexa has been a hugely valuable asset since the concept of FITF was born in 2013 and has been instrumental in guiding the charity toward success and delivery in all areas, but she brings particular expertise in the area of Fisheries Education and encouraging collaboration across stakeholders. In 2025 Alexa was voted into the role of FITF President, a non-board member role to provide visionary leadership to support the charity’s mission and long-term operation.

Aberdeen based David Anderson prides himself on being able to engage and work collaboratively with people from all backgrounds in UK fishing. He is based in Aberdeen and is engaged throughout the ports of North East Scotland. He holds an extensive variety of roles; currently he is the CEO of Aberdeen Fish Producers Organisation Ltd, Chair of the North East White Fish Forum, Director of Scottish Seas Ltd, Director of the North and West Fish Producer Organisation, Director of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, Director of Seafood Scotland and Director of the Sea Fisheries Scotland Accreditation Group. Previously he has worked as the Liaison Officer with the Scottish Fishermen's Organisation, and as the Chair of the Scottish Association of Fish Producer Organisations, and Chair of the Scottish Industry Discards Initiative. He wants to use his knowledge, connections and experience to steer sea fisheries towards a better future and communicate the healthy, sustainable activities taking place in UK fishing that work towards a long term future and stability for the industry.

Glen Annison - known as Zeddy - is based in the fishing village of Seahouses on the Northumberland coast. He’s been in the fishing industry for over 25 years, working in a team on the Standshore potting for lobster and Crab. Zeddy is the proud father of three children – who all follow his passion and like to help him on the boat – with one son now starting his fishing career as he leaves school. He wants to help younger generations to keep the fishing industry safe and buoyant, and bring more young people into the industry. He believes that fishing isn’t really a job if you love it, it’s more a social activity where you can enjoy making money while also enjoying the sunrise!

James Buchan - known within industry circles as Jimmy - left school in 1976 to start a career at sea as a deckhand - before going on to become a vessel owner. Having fished the North Sea most of his life, first as a whitefish skipper, and latterly concentrating on Nephrops, Jimmy has had a full and varied career across different sectors within the fishing industry. More recently he has built a seafood supply company “Amity Fish Co”, focused on quality seafood delivery through e-commerce, home delivery, and into food service. Jimmy has served on several industry boards over several decades which has helped Jimmy gain a wealth of knowledge. He took up a new role as Chief Executive Officer at the Scottish Seafood Association in 2017 and has continued to serve the industry using his knowledge and experience to promote and champion the processing sector.

Tom is a Principal Marine Fisheries Scientist and Advisor at Cefas on marine and fisheries issues. In his current position he is responsible for providing scientific and policy advice to government institutes including Defra on commercial fisheries and the marine environment. His role includes the delivery of national and international research, managing funding programmes, and participating in international fisheries negotiations.

Until 2021, Hazel Curtis was the Director of Corporate Relations at Seafish, working at Seafish since 2000. Hazel led the Economics team until December 2018, contributing to many government and industry initiatives to help improve fisheries management and fleet efficiency. She developed a programme of economic data collection from the seafood industry and a programme of providing analysis, evidence and expert advice to inform business and government policy decisions. Her economics work at Seafish included impact assessments of key policy proposals and management measures such as the Landing Obligation. Hazel has been a member of the European Commission’s Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, providing official advice to the Commission, and from 2011 to 2015 was the President of the European Association of Fisheries Economists. In 2016, Hazel was also elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade. Hazel sits on the FITF Executive Committee, providing more day to day guidance to the charity.

Brian Douglas has been at sea since he could walk, working with his Grandad and Father in a small boat. When he was 15 years old, he started fishing full time, potting for crabs & lobsters, and netting for turbots, dover soles, & cod. He also spent some time wreck netting. For the last 22 years he’s been fishing for prawns. He believes fishing is a way of life, not just a job, that fishermen do for a love of the sea and wants to support FITF because of the need for people to come together for the future of the fishing industry, and find ways to support young people to get involved in fishing.

Hannah Fennell is the Head of Orkney Fisheries Association (OFA) and is based on Orkney Islands. She comes from a research and science background, having previously worked as a researcher for OFA and for Marine Scotland. Aside from her role at OFA, she is currently working on a part-time PhD exploring the impact of static fishing gear and has previous research experience in socio-economic indicators in the fishing sector. Hannah has a unique set of skills as she holds a strong academic background but is also integrated within the fishing community, so she is well placed to support most areas of FITF’s work. She has a strong interest in improving the viability of small scale fisheries through increased opportunities and localised management to work towards thriving and robust, small scale fisheries around the coastline, where fishing is viewed as a valuable sector that young people want to - and are able to - be a part of. Hannah also sits on the FITF Executive Committee, providing more day to day guidance to the charity.

Paul comes from generations based in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. He is a father, grandfather and commercial fisherman, who owned a trawler for 55 years, gaining all his certificates at Lowestoft Maritime college, as well as managing a fish export business. He’s involved in the RNLI and was the Chairman of Leigh and Southend Fishermen’s Association for many years. Paul was a member and vice-chair of the Kent and Essex Sea fisheries committee member for 15 years. He now works to represent wider fishing communities as the President of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations. Working with industry and government on fisheries management and policies.

Asa and Cassie Howe are based out of Seahouses on the Northumberland coast and Asa fishes independently on his vessel, Ava Carol, potting for lobsters and crab. Asa and Cassie work closely, as Cassie has recently taken on a role in their business, Howe Fisheries, supporting with administration and occasionally joining Asa out fishing. Asa and Cassie and currently in the process of buying a new boat to expand their fishing endeavours.

David Jarrad is the Chief Executive Officer the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB). The SAGB represents the views of shellfisheries with Government, other users of the sea and environmental organisations. David is very well known in the shellfish sector both in the UK and overseas. David started his career at a shellfish farm on the River Exe in South Devon in the early 1980’s having studied fish farming and fisheries management at Sparsholt Agricultural College, Hampshire. He was Managing Director of River Exe Shellfish Farms in the Exe estuary and operated Abbotsbury Oysters – where he also started a seafood restaurant. He took on his role at the SAGB in 2015. David sits on the board of the European Mollusc Producers Association (EMPA) – this is an ‘association of national associations’ throughout Europe with the aim to ensure representation of shellfish producers within European and national bodies and to work collaboratively for the development and recognition of the sector.

Trevor Jones is based in North Wales and has a diverse background in fishing and aquaculture. He has worked a variety of fishing gears (potting, netting, lining and trawling) on vessels ranging from under-10m to 43m. He is also involved in the development and operation of mussel farms, focused on scientifically based principles for best practices, and supporting postgraduate studies, that has culminated in the MSC certification of the Menai Strait Mussels. Additionally, he is an expert in fishing safety and training, working collaboratively in various committees and has been awarded a Merchant Navy Medal for services to fishing safety. Trevor was involved with FITF since its inception, and wants to help the charity become more effective through meaningful engagement in supporting ecosystems-based data and informed, adaptive fisheries co-management. He hopes to see a more long-term vision of sustainability in the industry, drawing on experience from the Nordic regimes of fishing to improve practices.

Michel Kaiser is currently the Chief Scientist and Professor of Fisheries Conservation at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Prior to joining Heriot-Watt University, he was the Science & Standards Director at the Marine Stewardship Council and he was the Professor of Marine Conservation Ecology at Bangor University for 20 years. His research interests focus on techniques to achieve sustainable use of marine resources while seeking to minimise impacts on the marine environment. He is best-known for his expertise in fisheries ecosystems, data poor fisheries and the use of spatial management measures to achieve conservation and fisheries objectives. Throughout his career has worked at the scientific interface between fisheries and conservation. He has extensive research collaborations with seafood industries in the UK and further afield. Michel currently holds a number of public appointments. He is a member of the IUCN-Fisheries Expert Group and is an independent Member of the UK Marine Science Coordination Committee, he chairs the International Scientific Advisory Committee for the pulse-trawling project (Holland). Past roles include: independent board member of the UK Seafish Industry Authority from 2007-2105 and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee board from 2012-2017. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has written or edited 5 books including Marine Fisheries Ecology and Marine Ecology: Processes Systems and Impacts - and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Fish Biology. In 2012 he co-convened the 6th World Fisheries Congress. Michel also sits on the FITF Executive Committee, providing more day to day guidance to the charity.

Aisling grew up in a fishing village regularly exploring in and on the sea. She studied to be a fisheries scientist, including spending lots of time on both commercial fishing vessels in the Celtic Sea and Atlantic and research vessels in the Irish Sea and Porcupine Bank. Growing up around fishermen and being at sea with them has made it clear how much fisheries science is about the people as much as the fish and the sea. This has strongly shaped the work she has done for the local councils on the Berwickshire and Northumberland Coast, at Natural England and now at the MMO. At various times she has developed information with others on all the sectors that operate in the sea and all the activities that people do in the sea as well as how the sea works. She works as the head of scientific evidence and evaluation focusing with the team on getting data and science from different disciplines in ecology, social science, economics and governance into decision making so that there is as full a picture as possible of what we know from research and experience, from people doing the work and people’s research.

Phil McBryde is a policy lead in the Domestic Fisheries & Reform team at Defra. With over 20 years of marine, agriculture and environment policy and operational experience in Defra and delivery bodies, Phil has worked in fisheries policy since 2016 and was part of the team that delivered the Fisheries White Paper in 2018 and the Fisheries Act 2020. Most recently he has been overseeing innovative and ground-breaking new Fisheries Management Plans under the Fisheries Act for seabass and a range of demersal non-quota species being developed in 2023. Phil looks forward to contributing to strengthening collaborative working across fisheries management.

North Sea Fisherman, Ashley Mullenger – otherwise known as the female fisherman – is a relatively recent industry entrant working out of Wells next to the Sea. She is the owner of the vessel Fairlass, and she is currently a skipper in training on a smaller boat called Saoirse, which is predominantly fishing for whelks, crabs and lobster. Her ambition for the future is to diversify into catching other types of seasonal fish for direct retail sales. Ashley swapped an office job for commercial fishing after spending multiple summers working on a charter angling vessel – and she is now on her way to owning and skippering her own vessel, as well as building up a massive social media following and appearing on various popular television shows to champion the work of women and men in the fishing industry working on small scale day boats. She is passionate about sustainable fishing practices and bringing locally caught seafood to UK markets, as well as promoting fishing as an attractive career to encourage new entrants into the industry. Ashley is community orientated and is vice-chair of the local parish council, a harbour commissioner, and involved in amateur dramatics when time and fishing permits.

Yasmin runs the Hastings Fishermen's Protection Society based on Rock-a-Nore beach in Hastings. She's worked with the fishermen at Hastings for nearly 20 years and have seen a thriving, culturally rich, historically important, sustainable fishing community rapidly decline. She wants to uphold fishing as a cultural way of life in Hastings, facing challenges such as the decline in local stocks. She works to support the local beach launched inshore coastal community to withstand the present and survive into the future.

The exceptional experience and knowledge of Mike Park is already well-known throughout the UK fishing sector, and he has been an important supporter and contributor to FITF’s work since its inception. He previously worked seine netting and trawling in the North Sea, however, he currently takes on the role of the CEO of the Scottish White Fish Producer Association (SWFPA). He is also the Chair of Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Accreditation Group, which deals with the MSC certification of fisheries, the Chair of the Seafish Scottish Committee, and the Chair of Box Pool Solutions (a Fish Box provider to the catching sector). Additionally, he participates in the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation through SWFPAs membership, and is also a Director of Seafood Scotland. Mike lives in the small fishing town of Stonehaven with an office in Fraserburgh, with the main whitefish port of Peterhead nearby, however he represents SWFPA members from as far afield as Oban on the west of Scotland to the Firth of Forth on the east coast. He is passionate about sustainability of fisheries, welfare and wellbeing of crew, the creation of sensible and workable fisheries management regimes, and the suitable training and education of young fishers. His vision for the future of industry is a well-balanced fishing sector that provides opportunities within a sound economic framework.

Beshlie’s interest in fishing communities is a long term one, since her first ever 'job' at six years old removing shore crabs from salmon nets on the River Teign in Devon. 'After some time attempting to find her route into commercial fishing, she started a degree studying vulnerable marine ecosystems and environmental sciences with a view to working in fisheries. She remembers storming out of a lecture when a professor described fishermen as 'rapists of the sea' – and has since worked to support fishing communities. She worked for the Marine Fisheries Agency as a British Sea Fisheries Officer, Conservation Officer and Catch Quota specialist, giving her a grounding in both fishing methods and fishing communities, and led her to seek out work embedded within a fishing community, rather than on the periphery of it. She’s spent the last decade at South Devon and Channel Shellfishermen Ltd - an association of fishing community personnel including skippers and owners of fishing vessels, merchants, processors and exporters and gear suppliers. She’s passionate about inclusion, and capacity building and supporting people within her community with challenges stemming from complex regulatory and bureaucratic requirements. She wants to support FITF as she is also passionate about building relationships, expanding understanding and giving people confidence to participate.

Jenny and Karl Price jointly own the Isobella M, fishing for shellfish out of Bridlington. Karl skippers the boat and Jenny occasionally joins as crew and also handles the admin & business. They have successfully grown a fishing business while raising a family, and are active in the local fishing community, leading industry initiatives, and participating in science and management. Owing to issues finding reliable local crew to work on their boat, they have developed the “Get a Life at Sea” campaign off their own backs, a project that aims to attract young men and women into the industry.

Richard skippers Carlee out of Mudeford Quay and is the Secretary and Treasurer for the South Coast Fishermen's Council.

Mike Warner runs A Passion for Seafood Ltd and is a leading UK seafood and fisheries consultant, connecting producer (fishermen) to the consumer 'net to plate,' via storytelling. Mike believes in reporting direct from the 'coal face' of the industry with integrity, authenticity and accuracy to emphasise best practice, environmental responsibility, high welfare, sustainability and traceability. Mike relays the story of UK seafood production in a consumer-friendly way, with aims to demystify wild catch and aquaculture practices. Mike's knowledge of and expertise in, the UK fishing industry and seafood sectors has made him a popular and reliable source of information for food organisations, NGO's, the mainstream media and educational bodies who wish to learn more about the realities of seafood production. In his time as a consultant, Mike has worked and continues to work closely with Seafish, The Shellfish Association of Great Britain, The National Lobster Hatchery (of which he is a Patron), The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers and Seafood Scotland. Mike is UK Seafood and Fisheries Ambassador for Wright Brothers London and is an ambassador for Love British Food. He is also about to join the newly formed Wright Brothers Sea Change Foundation as a Trustee In 2019. He believes fervently, that as an island nation, surrounded by some of the most productive seas in the Northern Hemisphere, we should have far more of a connection to our coasts and their communities. 'Sustainability doesn't just refer to fish stocks, but to the long term viability of our fishing communities and their harmony and balance with the environment within which they work.'

Based out of Newhaven in East Sussex, Neil Witney is the owner and skipper of About Time NN8, a U-12m trawler fishing for mixed species with one other crew member, actively engaging in working groups and committees to contribute to the future of the industry. He is committed to preserving the local community, small businesses, and local fishing heritage. Neil works with FITF as a means to help secure a future for the industry, and feels it is important to pass on knowledge that benefits future fishing generations, and work towards transitioning the industry to something where everyone involved feels represented, and proud of what they do.