Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee Members
Biographies of the members of MAFAC
Hugh Cowperthwaite
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Senior Program Director, Fisheries and Aquaculture at Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI)
Falmouth, Maine
At CEI Hugh is responsible for coordinating lending, business counseling and technical assistance with commercial fishermen, aquaculturists and waterfront businesses.
Since 2010 Hugh has been leading an ongoing effort to introduce commercial sea scallop farming to Maine growers based on Japanese culture methods. Hugh is a Maine native and has a background in commercial fisheries (lobstering) that began in high school. Other work experiences prior to CEI include: sea urchin diving, tending boat moorings, raising oysters, GIS work, and several marine environmental consulting projects coastwide. Hugh is a member of the Maine Technology Institute’s Aquaculture and Marine Technology Board, the Maine Fishermen’s Forum Board and the Maine Sea Grant Policy Advisory Committee.
Term Expires: September 11, 2026 (1st Term)
Thomas Fote
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Toms River, New Jersey
Tom Fote has been an avid angler since he was four years old. After retiring in 1970 as an US Army Captain, due to wounds sustained in Vietnam, he returned to his first love, fishing. He became involved in marine ecosystem and environmental issues as a volunteer, because of his interest in restoring striped bass, and is most proud of his work to help end ocean dumping. Tom’s love of fishing has brought him to the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii, Gulf of Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica. He attended Hofstra University, earning a B.A. in business and an MBA in marketing and management. In 1983, he started representing Berkeley Striper Club and the Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA) and soon began attending Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meetings. In 1990, he became the Governor’s Appointee from New Jersey to the ASMFC, and served in that role until June 2023. Tom currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Clean Water Action New Jersey and the JCAA.
Subcommittees: Recreational Fisheries
Term Expires: April 2025 (2nd Term)
Jennifer Hagen
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Marine Policy Advisor Quileute Tribe/Marine Biologist
La Push, Washington
Throughout her career, Jennifer has spent a significant amount of her time collaborating at sea aboard National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Research ships, UNOLS vessels as well as operating a small research vessel owned by the Quileute Indian Tribe. At sea Jennifer has participated in a variety of oceanographic and fisheries research topics in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Her experience is inclusive of almost 30 years working with Washington Coastal Tribes in marine resource research and fishery management topics. Jennifer is actively engaged in federal, tribal, state, and regional marine resource forums and advisory councils which address technical, policy and legal issues regarding the marine environment.
In Jennifer’s current position as Marine Policy Advisor with the Quileute Tribe (over a decade), she represents the tribe as participant to both domestic and international fishery management processes as well as responsibilities for the Quileute Tribes Treaty Ocean fisheries. Jennifer also manages several research programs designed to monitor and protect treaty reserved marine resources. Focus areas include marine biotoxins, hypoxia and other ocean chemistry conditions. It is a little known fact that Jennifer spent time as a commercial fisher and oyster farmer while living in Tokeland, Washington.
Term Expires: September 11, 2026 (1st Term)
Natasha M. Hayden, PE
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Vice President of Lands & Natural Resources, Afognak Native Corporation
Kodiak, Alaska
Natasha Hayden is a Alutiiq/Suqpiaq, Alaska Native Alaskan, and was born and raised in Kodiak located in the Gulf of Alaska. She was raised in a commercial, subsistence, and traditional fishing family. She and her husband own and operate a 58-foot, steel, fixed gear fishing vessel targeting halibut, sablefish, and pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutians.
Natasha earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in 2009 and is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Alaska. She was elected to serve on to the Native Village of Afognak Tribal Council in 2014 and continues to serve. In addition, she served on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council’s (NPFMC) Advisory Panel from 2018 to 2020.
She is currently employed as the VP of Lands & Natural Resources for the Afognak Native Corporation, an Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Village Corporation. Her responsibilities include working towards ensuring the protection, preservation, and utilization of its more than 220,000 acres of ANCSA and ANILCA land located in the north part of the Kodiak Archipelago.
Natasha lives in Kodiak and is mother to three (3) children, a daughter Jordan (22) and two sons, Stormy (15) and Kieran (12).
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)
Meredith Moore
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Washington, DC
Meredith Moore has over 15 years of experience working on environmental policy issues, with a primary focus on U.S. marine resources. Since 2016, she has been with Ocean Conservancy, serving as the Director of the Fish Conservation Program. Her work focuses on sustainable management of fisheries, particularly in the face of increasing climate change impacts, to ensure healthy ecosystems and thriving coastal communities. Meredith has a B.S. in Physics from the University of Georgia and a M.S. in Astronomy from the University of Maryland. Originally from Alabama, Meredith now lives in Washington, D.C. with at least one dog.
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)
Linda O'Dierno
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Somers, New York
Linda has a broad range of experience in the fish and seafood industry that includes the development of state strategies for both aquaculture and wild harvest fisheries, expansion of international markets for U.S. seafood products, development of value-added products, promotion of underutilized species, and public relations. To help grow the market for seafood products, she has been a trainer in educational programs for the seafood, retail, and foodservice industries. Linda served as a Regional Seafood Specialist for New York Sea Grant, Coordinator of Fish and Seafood Development for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and as an Outreach Specialist for the National Aquaculture Association.
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)
Ryan Prewitt
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Chef/Owner, Peche Restaurant
New Orleans, LA
Ryan Prewitt began his culinary career in the farmer’s markets of San Francisco, where a burgeoning interest in food developed into a full-blown career. After spending time working for chefs Robert Cubberly and Alicia Jenish at Le Petite Robert Bistro, he moved to New Orleans to work with Chef Donald Link at Herbsaint. Ryan proved to be a quick study under Link’s tutelage and became Chef de Cuisine in 2009. He subsequently moved on to oversee culinary operations at Link Restaurant Group as Executive Chef for the company.
With a new job came an increased ability to learn and travel. As a member of the Fatback Collective, a group of Southern chefs who have compiled numerous accolades and awards in restaurants across the South, Ryan has learned new traditions and techniques from many talented BBQ pitmasters and has traveled to Uruguay to study traditional open-fire cooking. These experiences, along with a trip to observe grilling techniques in Spain, culminated in the opening of Pêche Seafood Grill. Ryan received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: South in May 2014, the same year Pêche earned the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.
In the years since, Ryan has continued to work with oyster farmers, fishers and scientists. He was nominated to be the Chef’s Council Chair for Audubon GULF, worked with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and served on the board for Oyster South. Among other pursuits, Ryan looks forward to continuing to broaden his knowledge of American fisheries.
Term Expires: September 11, 2026 (1st Term)
Kellie Ralston, MAFAC Vice Chair
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Vice President for Conservation and Public Policy, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust
Tallahassee, Florida
Kellie Ralston, a fifth generation Floridian, serves as the Vice President for Conservation and Public Policy for the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. Mrs. Ralston attended Florida State University where she furthered her interest in the natural and marine world and received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in biology. She began her professional career working on water quality and Everglades restoration projects with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and then served as an analyst for the Florida House of Representatives' Water and Resource Management Committee. She then worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission where she was involved in policy development and stakeholder coordination for the Division of Marine Fisheries Management. Most recently, she served as the American Sportfishing Association’s Southeast Fisheries Policy Director, addressing fisheries, habitat and water quality issues in the Gulf and South Atlantic region.
Subcommittee: Recreational Fisheries
Term Expires: October 2024 (2nd Term)
Jocelyn Runnebaum, Ph.D., MAFAC Chair
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Bath, Maine
Jocelyn Runnebaum is a Marine Scientist with The Nature Conservancy’s Maine Chapter. She is focused on increasing the sustainability of Gulf of Maine ecosystems, contributing to the social-ecological sciences used in marine conservation and management, and empowering stakeholders to become active and valued partners in the policy and management of marine resources. At TNC, Jocelyn is working to advance ecosystem-based approaches to marine conservation and management, particularly for climate resilient-fisheries, sustainable aquaculture, and low-impact offshore wind development. Before joining TNC, she worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a Fisheries Biologist providing policy support and advice on federal fisheries management. Jocelyn has a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the University of Maine in Orono, where she worked collaborative with commercial harvesters to evaluate conservation measures for bycatch of a species of concern in the lobster fishery. Before getting her Ph.D., Jocelyn commercial fished for salmon in Alaska and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia working with rural fish farmers.
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)
Sarah Schumann
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Warren, Rhode Island
Sarah Schumann is a 15+ year veteran of the Rhode Island and Alaska seafood industries, as well as a passionate advocate for the ocean ecosystems that sustain wild fisheries. She has had the joy of working as a deckhand on gillnet, lobster, seine, and oyster farm boats in both states, operating her own small-scale shellfishing operation in Rhode Island, and spending nine summers as a salmon cannery machinist in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Sarah is also the principal of Shining Sea Fisheries Consulting, a mission-driven research and education firm that blends roots in the commercial fishing community with a commitment to sound science, public engagement, and systems thinking to support coastal and ocean environments and the fishermen who make their livelihoods in these places. Sarah is the author of Rhode Island's Shellfish Heritage: An Ecological History and Simmering the Sea: Diversifying Our Cookery to Sustain Our Fisheries.
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)
Patrick Sullivan, Ph.D.
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Professor Emeritus, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Patrick Sullivan is Professor Emeritus from the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University. With a PhD in Biostatistics and Biomathematics from the University of Washington, his work focuses on assessment and management of marine, estuarine, and freshwater fisheries. For 22 years, Dr. Sullivan was a member of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) that advises the New England Fisheries Management Council. He is currently serving as a member of the SSC that advises the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the Center for Independent Experts, which provides independent scientific peer review of fisheries assessment methods nationally for NOAA/NMFS. Prior to arriving at Cornell, he served for 10 years as a population dynamicist with the International Pacific Halibut Commission.
Subcommittee: Ecosystems Approach, Recreational Fisheries, and Protected Resources
Term Expires: April 2025 (2nd Term) .
Clayward Tam
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Kailua, Hawaii
Clay Tam, born and raised in Hawaii, is a lifelong fisherman whose passion and career has centered on sustaining Hawaii’s fisheries for future generations. Since 2007, Clay has been an advisor and now Director of Cooperative Fisheries Research for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group (PIFG) a Federal 501c3 non-profit organization that supports cooperative fisheries research and community education and outreach in the U.S. Pacific Island Region. Clay works closely with the fishing community and agencies to coordinate PIFG’s research activities including the annual NOAA Fisheries Bottomfish Independent Survey, Saltonstall-Kennedy fishery development grants, and other fishery research projects. In 2008 he was recognized by NOAA Fisheries and received the Sustainable Fisheries Leadership Award for Science, Research, and Technology. While managing the highly successful Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources volunteer Ulua Tagging Program. He is a current member and chair of the Western Pacific Fisheries Council Advisory Panel and holds seats on advisory groups to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)
Brett Veerhusen
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Seattle, Washington
Brett Veerhusen is the founder and CEO of Ocean Strategies, a public affairs firm specializing in seafood, fisheries and marine resources. For three decades, Brett commercially fished in Alaska harvesting salmon, halibut and herring in the Aleutian Islands and Bristol Bay. Previously, he served as founding Executive Director of Seafood Harvesters of America. Brett began his career as a coalition leader on the campaign to stop Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska. He works closely with America’s seafood supply chain and is an associate member for FMI–The Food Industry Association’s Seafood Strategy Leadership Council. Brett also serves as board member for the North Pacific Fisheries Association. He holds a Masters of Marine Affairs from the University of Washington and Bachelor Degrees in Business and Spanish from the University of Puget Sound. Brett is an avid runner and hiker, enjoying the Pacific Northwest trails and lives in Seattle.
Term Expires: March 2025 (1st Term)