In 2022, the Portsmouth-based Global Seafood Alliance will celebrate its 25th anniversary. While mostly unknown to the general public, the Global Seafood Alliance — originally the Global Aquaculture Alliance — has grown from humble roots focused on the budding aquaculture industry into an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing responsible seafood practices through education, advocacy and third-party assurances.

Through the development of its Best Aquaculture Practices and Best Seafood Practices certification programs, GSA has become the leading provider of assurances for seafood globally, said Wally Stevens, GSA’s CEO. Its critical portfolio reflects its status as the world’s only third-party certification program linking responsible wild-capture fisheries to Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard-certified vessels and Seafood Processing Plant Standard-certified facilities through the Chain of Custody Standard.

“Since 2018, we’ve been working diligently to establish an umbrella under which credible third-party assurances for both aquaculture and wild-capture fisheries can be linked,” said Stevens about the organization’s recent rebrand. “The completion of the rebranding initiative and the transition from the Global Aquaculture Alliance to the Global Seafood Alliance is a major step forward in our journey, as we continue to fulfill our vision of a world that embraces the role of responsible seafood in meeting global nutrition needs.”

The momentum for the rebrand accelerated earlier this year when Brian Perkins of the Marine Stewardship Council came on board to become chief operating officer to help guide the organization through the transition and into the future.

“While the rebranding initiative is a rewarding accomplishment for our organization, we still have a lot of work ahead of us as we embrace this unique opportunity to work across both farmed and wild-capture seafood, helping to ensure that responsible practices are applied throughout the seafood supply chain,” Perkins said.

Stevens, a native of Stratham and graduate of Plymouth State University, was a longtime seafood industry executive. He rose to become president of the fresh and frozen seafood distribution company Slade Gorton in Boston and moved back to New Hampshire in 2009 after a “failed retirement.”

He said the parent organization of the GSA was created in 1997 “by a small group in the aquaculture industry who came to realize that some of its practices need more attention and to set standards. It was really the industry that decided it needed to start taking responsibility for its practices.”

GSA works with private businesses, governments, associations and non-governmental organizations to spread the gospel of certifiable, sustainable, environmental- and worker-friendly practices.

“We do a lot of good work,” Stevens said. GSA has 50 employees and 20 international contractors working with more than 3,175 members in 55 countries, according to its 2020 annual report. GSA first became the leading standards-setting organization for the aquaculture seafood industry from North and South America to Africa and Europe and throughout southeast Asia. This is no small matter given industry estimates that more than 60 percent of all seafood will come from aquaculture by 2030.

While expanding into wild-capture fisheries is a significant expansion, one of the GSA’s founding members says it will not change the organization’s mission.

“Our name may have changed, but environmental and social responsibility in seafood remain our top priorities,” said George Chamberlain, GSA president. “As we enter this new era of operations, starting with certifying responsible fishing vessels, we do so with great respect for the traditions and heritage of commercial fishing communities around the world. We hope to learn and grow alongside them.”