Horace Dawson has joined the board of directors of the Global Seafood Assurances (GSA), an arm of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA-headquartered Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA). The international non-governmental organization is dedicated to advocacy, education and leadership in responsible aquaculture.
The executive vice president and general counsel of Red Lobster Seafood Co. is responsible for legal affairs as well as international operations, communications, government and community relations, and sustainability for the world’s largest casual dining seafood chain, which has more than 700 restaurants in the United States and Canada. Dawson came to Orlando, Florida-headquartered Red Lobster from Hard Rock Cafe International, where he was the company’s first in-house attorney. He is a graduate of Harvard University, where he received undergraduate, law and masters of business administration degrees.
“I am very much looking forward to working with everyone on the GSA board to help seafood-related industries in providing assurances of a sustainable and responsibly sources seafood supply,” said Dawson.
Launched in April of 2018, GSA set out to build a single platform for comprehensive, full supply chain seafood assurance – farmed and wild – with compatible, block chain-style traceability. All standards in the GSA portfolio meet the highest quality and governance and follow internationally recognized benchmarking criteria. The standards may be owned by GSA, managed by GSA or working in partnership with GSA.
Currently, GSA is focusing on filling the gaps in assurance. Version 2 of the Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS) standards, which are designed to address labor conditions aboard fishing vessels, are in development, and GSA will take over the standards from Seafish in May 2020. Also in the works are the Seafood Processing Standards for both wild and farmed seafood, which are currently being piloted and will soon be put to market.
“Horace Dawson’s involvement with global seafood restaurant operations brings an exceptional level of expertise to the GSA board,” said GSA Executive Director Wally Stevens. “He, along with the recently announced board members Ally Dingwall of Sainsbury’s and Marcus Coleman of Seafish, provide for excellent representation of both the marketplace and fisheries stakeholders.”
