Keynote Speaker
ELSPETH MACDONALD
Scottish Fishermen's Federation
Elspeth joined the Scottish Fishermen's Federation as Chief Executive in August 2019, following a career in the public sector. Since then she has led SFF’s work through the Covid pandemic, the UK’s exit from the EU and the many other challenges that Scotland’s fishing industry has faced. She has led the charge in speaking up for fishing in Scotland’s increasingly crowded seas, championing fishing’s role in providing sustainable, healthy and climate-smart food. Recognised as a key industry leader by both Scottish and UK governments and parliaments, she also regularly appears in the media to speak for the sector on a wide range of issues. Elspeth also currently chairs the UK-wide Fishermen’s Welfare Alliance.
Before joining SFF, Elspeth spent four years as deputy Chief Executive at Food Standards Scotland, where she led its work on Scotland’s strategy and policy for food safety and standards, having spent the preceding 14 years in a range of roles with the UK’s Food Standards Agency in Scotland and London. Elspeth is a science graduate of Stirling and Aberdeen universities and started her working life at what is now the Marine Scotland Science laboratory in Aberdeen.
Industry Speaker
VERONICA PAPACOSTA
CEO, Seafood Industry Australia
Veronica is the CEO of Seafood Industry Australia (SIA), Managing Director of Sydney Fresh Seafood (Aust) Pty Ltd, Chair, a member of the National Fisheries Advisory Council, and a passionate advocate for the Australian seafood industry.
Sydney Fresh Seafood is a fresh seafood retail and hospitality business currently operating 18 stores across NSW and QLD. Established in 1978, Sydney Fresh is still a family run business which now employs more than 150 people and is ever growing and innovating to meet the rapidly shifting retail environment and consumer expectations.
Veronica led the membership drive to establish SIA – the first ever national peak ]-body to represent the interests of the wildcatch, aquaculture and post-harvest sectors of the Australia seafood industry. Established in May 2017, SIA is the uniting voice of Australian seafood. Social licence, resource access and positive media representation are key strategic activities of SIA.
Veronica has a Bachelor of Economics (major in Marketing and Accounting) from Sydney University, a Diploma in Event Management from University of Technology, Sydney and is a very proud graduate of the National Seafood Industry Leadership Program (NSILP) 2015.
Speakers
ALISON TURNBULL
University of Tasmania
Alison Turnbull is a researcher in seafood food safety and market access at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. Current research interests include marine biotoxins in shellfish, lobster, abalone and sea urchins, risk assessment for seafood contamination and exploration of risk management options for food safety in seafood (chemical contamination, viruses, bacteriophage and vibrio's).
BENJAMIN PICTON
Senior Strategist, Rabobank
JILL COLLINS
Director, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
KLAAS HARTMANN
Associate Professor, University of Tasmania
LACHLAN McLEAY
South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)
MARK EDWARDS
CEO, New Zealand Rock Lobster Industry Council
Mark Edwards has spent most of his career in fisheries management for the New Zealand government (1988-2010) and then worked for a period in Australia. He had various senior management roles in the Ministry of Fisheries concluding as the Ministry’s Chief Policy Advisor, and was the Director, Policy and Licensing in Victoria, Australia for 6 years.
He has an Executive Masters in Public Administration from the Australian/New Zealand School of Government and a Masters in Marine Sciences.
Mark has led reviews of legislation and international negotiation, and worked on fisheries policy, the settlement with Maori, allocation, cost recovery, and licensing and administration. He has been involved in fisheries management development in the United Kingdom, Argentina and Peru.
Mark returned to New Zealand in 2016 and is currently the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Rock Lobster Industry Council.
MATT RUTTER
CEO, Geraldton Fishermen's Co-operative
MICHELLE INGLEY-SMITH
Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Skills Insight
NICK LEE
Director, Healthy Minds Enterprises
ROBIN THOMPSON
CSIRO
SIMON DICK
Co-Founder, Deckhand Electronic Logbooks
SONJA HEMPLE & HOLLY RICKARDS
Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Tasmania (NRE TAS)
TRISTAN KITCHENER
Director, Kitchener Partners
Tristan is an ex-retailer, having previously held senior positions with Sainsbury’s (UK) and Coles supermarkets, and is now a management consultant providing advice and support along the grocery value chain, from major retailers through to manufacturers and primary producers. He has a focus upon fresh foods and was the previously the Group Merchandise Manager, Fresh Produce, at Coles Supermarkets.
Tristan has his own consulting business, Kitchener Partners Pty Ltd, focused upon providing strategic and advisory support. Increasingly Tristan assists businesses understand the implications of the changing retail and consumer environment and helps identify solutions to key business challenges.
Tristan is a strong advocate for supply chain members collaborating more closely to better understand and meet the needs of the consumer. He believes that this can be most effectively achieved by transferring learning from other markets and sectors.
Tristan also manages and operates the Harmonised Australian Retailer Produce Scheme (HARPS) on behalf of the major grocery retailers in Australia (ALDI, Coles, Costco, Harris Farms, Metcash (IGA) and Woolworths) and Hello Fresh, Marley Spoon and McDonalds. HARPS is a retailer-led scheme designed to assist with compliance to food safety, legal and trade requirements for suppliers of fresh produce. HARPS has combined the individual requirements of each of the major grocery retailers in Australia into a single scheme. The HARPS business model is a global-first and can now be used as a platform to solve wider industry issues by bringing all the major retailers together.
Tristan is a regular speaker at industry conferences and appears as a sector expert in shows such as Switzer Daily on Sky Business TV. He works with a range of businesses including major and independent retailers, manufactures, private equity firms, state and federal government and other SMEs. Tristan’s formal qualifications include GAICD, MBA, MPhil (Horticulture Management) and BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences.
Primary Sponsor
The 2023 Trans-Tasman Rock Lobster Conference is supported by funding from the FRDC on behalf of the Australian Government.