Mangrove and coastal conservation expert Stefanie Rog is one of the new Trustees on the ASC Board.
Photo: ASC
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has announced the appointments of Stefanie Rog and Steve Philips to its Board of Trustees, adding experience from both environmental conservation and the seafood retail sector.
Rog officially joined the board on 1 July 2026, while Philips took up his position earlier this year, on 1 January 2026.
ASC said the appointments would broaden the expertise supporting its strategic direction as the organisation continues its work to promote responsible aquaculture through standards, assurance systems and market-based incentives.
Rog has more than 15 years of international conservation experience and holds a PhD in Conservation Biology. Her career has included work across a range of ecosystems, including coral reefs in Cambodia, lakes in Ethiopia and mangrove forests in Australia.
Originally from the Netherlands, she is currently based in Saudi Arabia, where she leads coordination across six protected areas, with responsibilities for restoration, research, rewilding and community engagement.
Meanwhile, Philips brings more than two decades of experience in retail merchandising, seafood sourcing and supply chain leadership. At Wegmans Food Markets, he leads seafood category strategy and developed the company’s Seafood Sourcing Policy, which focuses on food safety, environmental and social considerations, and digital traceability.
He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability, where he works with international partners to advance traceability standards across the seafood sector.
Steve Philips, new appointee to the ASC's Board of Trustees, is also Vice-Chair of the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability's supervisory board.
Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC, said the two appointments would help strengthen the board’s ability to guide the organisation.
“ASC is fortunate to welcome two outstanding leaders to our Board of Trustees. Stefanie’s deep expertise in conservation, restoration and landscape-scale environmental management, combined with Steve’s extensive experience in seafood sourcing, retail leadership and traceability, further strengthens the breadth of knowledge guiding our organisation,” he said.
“As aquaculture continues to play an increasingly important role in global food systems, it is essential that ASC benefits from perspectives spanning both environmental stewardship and commercial implementation. Their combined experience will help ensure ASC continues to deliver practical, science-based solutions that create value for producers, businesses, investors and consumers, while driving meaningful improvements for people and nature,” he added.
ASC said the appointments reflect its aim to bring together expertise from conservation, science, seafood supply chains and global markets as it seeks to support measurable improvements in aquaculture and build confidence in ASC-certified farmed seafood.
The certification organisation also announced this week that it is delaying the mandatory transition date for its Farm Standard by one year, giving certified farms until 1 May 2028 to complete the move from existing species-specific standards.