From left to right, NWAA Executive Director Jeanne McKnight; award recipient Wally Pereyra; and NWAA President Emeritus Jim Parsons.
Attribution: Dick Jones / Northwest Aquaculture Alliance.
On the eve of the Christmas holidays, the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA) honoured its Board member and veteran fisheries scientist, Walter T. (Wally) Pereyra, PhD, with its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his "extraordinary contributions" to both aquaculture and fisheries.
Presented during the NWAA's Annual Board Dinner held at the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe's 7 Cedars Resort in Sequim, Washington—the regular venue for the Pacific Northwest Indigenous Aquaculture Summit—the award was introduced by the previous recipient, NWAA President Emeritus and Jamestown Seafood CEO Jim Parsons.
In presenting the award, Parsons, who thanked Dr Pereyra for his five years of service and thought-leadership on the NWAA Board, highlighted that the award winner's career spans continents and industries.
"When we polled our members about who they believed should earn this year's award, the decision was unanimous. Wally Pereyra has made more contributions to the seafood industry in his lifetime than all of us in this room put together," Parsons said at the event.
In its statement about the award, the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance noted that, after earning his PhD degree in fisheries from the University of Washington's College of Fisheries in 1967, Dr Pereyra served as a Visiting Professor at the Universidad Católica de Valparaiso in Chile, where, working with Fundación Chile and the Fisheries Development Institute (Instituto de Fomento Pesquero - IFOP), he famously predicted that Chile "could one day produce 15,000 tons of farmed salmon annually."
As Parsons pointed out in his award presentation, today, "Chile's salmon aquaculture output exceeds one million tons, a number that nobody could envision at the time."
Later, in the mid-1970s, working closely with industry and elected leaders such as Senators Warren G. Magnuson (Democrat from Washington) and Ted Stevens (Republican from Alaska), Pereyra was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and is known as one of the pioneers of the pollock industry in the United States.
Currently Chairman of Arctic Storm Management Group and Chairman of Profish International, he has held positions at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) and has served on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee, the Snow Leopard Trust, and other organizations.
Among his accomplishments, Parsons also highlighted Dr Pereyra's personal efforts to restore Kokanee salmon runs in the state of Washington's Lake Sammamish.
"Wally Pereyra has led the effort to allow these endangered salmon to return to the lake and native spawning areas upstream by clearing the culvert on Ebright Creek, which runs through his farm, and working with the Snoqualmie Tribe and the Kokanee Working Group," he said.
"This has been a great success story in restoration aquaculture," added NWAA President Emeritus and Jamestown Seafood CEO.
A coalition of companies, organizations, and individuals committed to advancing aquaculture in the Pacific Region, the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance represents the leading producers and industry-related companies in the area.
Through advocacy, education, and collaboration, the NWAA promotes sustainable fish farming practices and strengthens the role of aquaculture in providing healthy seafood and economic opportunities for communities.
"Receiving this prestigious award from the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance is a tremendous honor," Dr Wally Pereyra said. "My career has taken me through both fisheries and aquaculture, and I have been fortunate to work alongside many dedicated colleagues who share a commitment to stewardship and innovation."
"I am grateful to NWAA for this recognition, and I accept it on behalf of all those who have worked tirelessly to advance our industry," he added. Thus, the name of Dr Walter T. (Wally) Pereyra joined the ranks of previous recipients of the NWAA Lifetime Achievement Award.
With five editions of history, in addition to the aforementioned Jim Parsons, NWAA President Emeritus and Jamestown Seafood CEO, who received it in 2024, the award has also been given to Kevin Bright and Randy Hodgin of Cooke Aquaculture Pacific in 2023; Dr. Conrad V.W. (Connie) Mahnken of NOAA Fisheries, who received it posthumously in 2022; and US Senator Dan Swecker, Washington's fish farming pioneer, and past leader of the former Washington Fish Growers Association, who received the inaugural award.
