Paul Holthus is the founding President/CEO of the World Ocean Council (WOC), the Global Blue Economy Business and Investment Organization, which brings together and other ocean sectors to create leadership, collaboration and action on “Corporate Ocean Responsibility”. He initiated the WOC “SMART Ocean-SMART Industries” program to foster and scale up ocean data collection from fishing boats and other ships and platforms, working with key intergovernmental organizations, e.g. UNESCO IOC, WMO. He has worked in over 30 countries with companies, communities, industry associations, UN agencies, international NGOs and foundations and has held senior positions with UNEP and international environment and business organizations.

Anna Mercer is the Chief of the Cooperative Research Branch and the Director of the Narragansett Laboratory for the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Throughout her career, Dr. Mercer has worked to develop research projects that address the questions and concerns of fishermen and the scientific community, including at-sea monitoring of resource species and habitats to shore-side processing and marketing of underutilized seafood species. Dr. Mercer holds a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

Cooper has a background in both fisheries science and industry and has founded Berring Data Collective in Denmark and Ocean Data Network in the USA. These start-ups, with data standards, common data flows, and knowledge sharing, are leading the globally emerging network of programs collaborating with the fishing industry to collect valuable oceanographic data.

Sergio is Senior Manager of the Chile´s Oceans Program at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where he leads technology innovation projects, and the application of the Ecosystem Approach in fisheries management in the Humboldt Current region. He is both a Marine Biologist and Civil Engineer, with master's degrees in Land Management and Public Policy. He has worked in various organizations both public and private in Chile and abroad. He specializes in fisheries management and regulation issues, as well as in the development, evaluation and execution of innovation and investment projects.