GDST Foundation Chooses Lejeune for Association Management Support

PRESS RELEASE - The Hague, February 2024 – Stichting (Foundation) Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and Lejeune Association Management (Lejeune) have signed an agreement that commissions Lejeune to do back-office, bookkeeping, partner services, communications, and event management support. This agreement is a key step in the organizational development of the GDST Foundation established in October 2022.

Prior to establishing the foundation, the GDST initiative was an informal traceability Dialogue, convened in 2017 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Institute for Food Technologists (IFT) to draft traceability standards for responsible seafood production/trade and help combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Responsible Seafood Production

By its nature, seafood is a highly traded global resource, so responsible seafood production/sourcing requires the ability to trace seafood products from the supermarket shelf all the way back to their origin (i.e. where the fish is caught or harvested). Since each player in the chain has their own data management system with different software architectures, it is important that an ‘interoperability’ standard be established so that these systems can seamlessly communicate data between each other. The GDST Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that also owns a subsidiary in Singapore for delivery of GDST interoperability testing, implementation tools and other resources/services.

A seafood hub

The previous GDST Steering Committee chose the Netherlands as its seat because it was the birthplace of several other successful initiatives in the seafood space, i.e., the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), the Marine Stewardship Council, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, and the Global Tuna Alliance. The country has an open economy with good facilitation of the seafood trade and one of the strongest association infrastructures worldwide.

GDST Executive Director Greg Brown comments: “Lejeune is a well-respected Association Management Company with a sustainability focus and excellent track record, that came highly recommended by our Dutch associates. Now that the Foundation’s startup phase has been completed, we expect that this collaboration will help develop GDST’s recognition as a truly global, partner driven organization.”

Managing Director Jules Lejeune of Lejeune adds: “We are delighted to welcome GDST to our range of non-profit business-to-business organisations. GDST is a perfect example of how industries and supply chains are pulling together for the greater good of responsible production and consumption. This year is Lejeune’s 60^th anniversary year and we have dedicated the year to the growing role of non-profit organisations as collaborative platforms to accelerate change towards a more sustainable future. In this sense, GDST and Lejeune are a perfect fit, and we look forward to supporting the Stichting towards achieving their goals.”

On 16 February, the GDST Management Board met for the first time at the Lejeune offices in The Hague. From left to right: Greg Brown (Executive Director GDST), Caroline van Noordenne (Treasurer GDST), Jules Lejeune (Managing Director Lejeune), Celesta Maas (Office Manager GDST at Lejeune) and Huw Thomas (Secretary GDST).