About
About Us
Who we are
Who We Are
Why Aquaculture?
Our Board of Directors
Jim Parsons – NWAA PRESIDENT
General Manager
Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC
Seattle, Washington
Cooke Aquaculture Inc. is a family-owned, vertically integrated aquaculture corporation based in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada. A pioneer in salmon farming, Cooke today has farming operations in Atlantic Canada, the United States (Maine and Washington State), Chile, Scotland, Central America (shrimp) and Spain (sea bass and sea bream).
The oldest continuously operating salmon farming company in North America, Cooke Aquaculture operates farms close to Cypress Island, Hope Island, Port Angeles, and Rich Passage—farms that have been in operation for more than 30 years. Cooke ranks among the global leaders in third-party certifications and traceability programs, with the distinction of holding Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) for all of its farming operations. Cooke Aquaculture Pacific employs 60 people in Washington State.
A native of Scotland, Keith Drynan was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he earned a BSc in Aquatic Bioscience, followed by an MSc Degree in Resource Development and Production from Edinburgh-based Heriot Watt University.
Prior to joining Troutlodge in 2017, Dryan worked for several leading trout companies in Scotland.
Troutlodge, a trout production company owned by Hendrix Genetics, is the world’s leading supplier of eyed rainbow trout eggs. Each year, Troutlodge produces, sells, and ships some 500 million trout eggs to more than 60 countries from its production facilities in Washington state, Idaho, and the Isle of Man.
Troutlodge employs cutting-edge genetic and genomic technologies in its breeding programs. Broodstock are independently tested and the company’s trout eggs are internationally certified as free of specific pathogens.
VACANT- NWAA TREASURER
Carrington Gorman – NWAA SECRETARY
Commercial Manager, North America
Cargill Aqua Nutrition
Ferndale and Granger, Washington
Dick Jones
CEO
Blue Ocean Mariculture
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Dick Jones is the CEO of Blue Ocean Mariculture, currently the only open-ocean finfish aquaculture company in the United States.
His passion for the ocean started very early in life, leading him to his first full-time job working at his family’s seafood processing business on the Boston Fish Pier in 1986. His diverse career includes 14 years overseeing seafood operations at Whole Foods Market and HEB Grocery.
Over the past 12 years, he has been a leader in the non-profit sector–working with industry, governments, and development agencies to implement improved practices at fisheries and aquaculture operations globally.
Jones is a co-founder of Sea Pact, a group of leading North American seafood companies dedicated to driving stewardship and continuous improvement of social, economic, and environmental responsibility throughout the global seafood supply chain. He is also a founding trustee of ThinkAqua, a non-profit whose mission is to improve the performance of small-scale aquaculture in Africa and ASEAN nations.
He has served as a Director or Advisor to several organizations, including the California Salmon Council, the Aquaculture Certification Council, the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions, World Resources Institute, Fair Trade USA, and Ocean Outcomes.
Ron Malnor
Sales Manager
Bio-Oregon / Skretting
Longview, Washington
Jeanne McKnight, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Northwest Aquaculture Alliance
Jeanne McKnight has worked all aspects of the global aquaculture industry for more than 25 years–where she has earned a reputation as a strong advocate for the commercial wild harvest sector as well as the responsible fish farming sector worldwide. She is a frequent contributor to trade magazines and has spoken extensively on the benefits of aquaculture at various conferences.
Hugh Mitchell, DVM
Founder/Owner
AquaTactics Fish Health Services
Kirkland, Washington
AquaTactics is a-globally respected Washington-owned fish veterinary services company that provides fish health consultation and fish health tools such as custom prescription vaccines and medications for public, tribal and private fish culture facilities. AquaTactics also provides pharmaceutical and biologics product and facility registration and licensing consultation and participates in cooperative fish health research projects.
Sean Nepper
Chief Brood Officer
Riverence
Rochester, Washington
Walter T. Pereyra, Ph.D.
Dr. Walter T. (Wally) Pereyra, a 50-year veteran of the seafood industry, serves on the Board of Directors of the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance as well as on the board of several international conservation groups.
Recognized as a pioneer of the Alaska groundfish sector, Dr. Pereyra has served as a Vice-Chairman of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, as Chairman of the National Fisheries Institute, has served on the federal Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee to the US Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior. Dr. Pereyra earned his BA degree in Zoology from the University of Maine, followed by both MS and Ph.D. degrees in Fisheries from the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington.
Genny West
General Manager, CANADA
ScaleAQ North America
Campbell River, BC
Scale AQ is a world-leading technology and equipment supplier to the global aquaculture industry. We provide equipment and services to both marine and freshwater fish farmers with high tech remote feeding barges for more precision feeding, connective software, underwater cameras, innovative net pen structures and ensilage systems. Scale has 900 employees, 27 offices in 11 countries and customers all over the world.
Svein Wiese-Hansen
Business Manager
Farmed Finfish and Shellfish Aquaculture Pacific Seafood
Clackamas, Oregon
Svein Wiese-Hansen currently holds the position of Business Manager for Farmed Finfish and Shellfish Aquaculture for Clackamas, Oregon-based Pacific Seafood Group, a company he has worked with since 2008.
In addition to serving for three consecutive terms on the Board of Directors for the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA), Wiese-Hansen has participated in the highly competitive Future Leaders Program of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), a program that helps prepare young seafood industry professionals to become leaders in their organizations.
In addition to his experience in shellfish aquaculture, Wiese-Hansen “learned the ropes” of finfish aquaculture, working since age 18 for Scan Am Fish Farms, a family-owned and operated salmon farming company in Anacortes, Washington, and later worked for the farm’s subsequent owners, Pan Fish and American Gold. While he started out in a labor-focused position, within 10 years, Wiese-Hansen rose through the ranks to become an assistant manager—handling everything along the way from mechanical repairs to commercial scuba diving, operating vessels (30-100 foot), feeding fish, fish husbandry, and performing various administrative duties.
STAFF
Jeanne McKnight, Ph.D. – Executive Director
Mark Streuli – Lobbyist
Dan Swecker – Senior Advisor
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
Linda A. Chaves – Chair
Walt Dickhoff, Ph.D.
John Forster, Ph.D.
Ron Hardy, Ph.D.
Robert Iwamoto, Ph.D.
Conrad V. Mahnken, Ph.D.
Cathy Roheim, Ph.D.
MEMBERS
