Dr. Murua has more than 20 years’ experience in fish population dynamics, assessment and management. He has chaired the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Scientific Committee and served as rapporteur for the Bigeye Species Group at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

Dr. Murua also has been chairman of the Standing Committee on Fisheries Science (STACFIS) of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and a member of the NAFO Scientific Council from 1999–2006, ICES Arctic Fisheries Working Group from 1999–2006, and the European Commission’s Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) in 2010–2019.

Before joining ISSF in 2019, he was principal investigator in the Marine Research Division at AZTI. Dr. Murua has published more than 75 peer-reviewed papers, co-edited three special fishery journal volumes, and contributed over 150 working documents in various RFMOs. He earned an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology from Universidad de La Laguna and a doctorate in Biological Science from Universidad del Pais Vasco, both in Spain.

Errhalt Consulting is a Tokyo-based fishery and maritime security group seeking to create a sustainable Pacific. The founder of Errhalt Consulting, Gunther Errhalt, is a US Navy veteran that worked in the North Pacific Fisheries Commission as a compliance consultant. His fluency in English, Mandarin, and Japanese, combined with his admiration for Japan, inspired Gunther to found a consulting agency to assist foreign and domestic forces in improving sustainability in Japan. One of the major goals of Errhalt Consulting is to establish a more robust EM presence in Japan and eventually a mandatory EM policy in place in the WCPFC and NPFC.

Seadog develops software to help you take the guesswork out of fishing. Our mobile application lets you send electronic trip reports to regulators, to promote transparency and accountability. But why not profit from your own data?! With our app, you can visualize your past trips in numerous ways, and you can use an artificial intelligence to draw insights from your data and run experiments, with complete privacy.

Dr. Willy Goldsmith is the Founder and Principal of Pelagic Strategies LLC, a fisheries research and policy consultancy that supports diverse organizations in their efforts to secure a sustainable future for our oceans. He has over a decade of experience in marine fisheries science and policy, balancing time spent on the water with efforts to improve management approaches and outcomes. Prior to founding Pelagic Strategies, Willy served as Executive Director of the American Saltwater Guides Association, where he worked on behalf of fishing guides, small businesses, and conservation minded recreational anglers. Previously, he was a Senior Associate with the Lenfest Ocean Program and a 2018 Sea Grant Knauss Fellow in the office of Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). He obtained his PhD in Marine Science with a sub-concentration in Marine Policy from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William and Mary, where his dissertation focused on characterizing the biological impacts and human dimensions of the U.S. east coast recreational Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery. He received his B.A. from Harvard University. An avid angler, Willy lives in Gloucester, MA, and whenever he has a free moment you can find him plying his local waters for anything that swims.

Abigail spent 20 years commercial fishing for salmon off of the coast of Alaska before “retiring” to advocate for the fish and the fishermen she loves. Her time on the water was the foundation of her education in all things fish, from the successes of science-based fisheries management to sustainable fishing practices. The rest of her education came in the form of a BS in Communication and from a number of mentors in the world of fisheries management.

In 2015 she began working with North Pacific Fisheries Association (NPFA) as Project Coordinator, a position that has introduced her to the world of federal fisheries monitoring. Shortly after starting at NPFA, she began participating in the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (NPFMC) Electronic Monitoring Workgroup. This was a group established to spearhead developing a regulated electronic monitoring program in the North Pacific. Since then both the fixed-gear longline and pot fisheries in Alaska are fully regulated and operational. She now serves on the NPFMC’s Fishery Monitoring Advisory Committee (FMAC) and Partial Coverage FMAC.

Raiana McKinney leads Pew’s work to modernize oversight of longline and transshipment activities at regional fishery management organizations. McKinney also works to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within Pew and previously worked on several other international marine initiatives, including global shark conservation and strengthening the governance of global tuna fisheries.

Before coming to Pew, McKinney worked for the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. She currently serves as a member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative’s Define Best Practice and Inform Policy working group and the ICES Working Group on Technology Integration for Fishery-Dependent Data.

McKinney holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and a minor in game design from New York University and is pursuing a master’s in international relations at Harvard University.