The Team

Linda brings incredible experience from her time as Fisheries & Aquaculture Manager at Marks & Spencer — where she led the Forever Fish Seafood Sourcing agenda. She championed sourcing from small-scale global fisheries, improvements in bycatch mitigation, improved seafood welfare and advancements in crew welfare and transparency throughout the seafood supply chain.

With her passion for small-scale fisheries, sustainability and community-driven change, we’re poised to accelerate our mission of empowering small-scale fisheries globally, and to deepen our commitment to community benefit, environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

Her combination of vision, deep sector expertise and commitment to people, the environment and animal welfare aligns perfectly with who we are at Community Catch.

Carlos Sonderblohm is an oceanographer and fisheries management specialist, born and raised in Venezuela and currently based in Faro, Portugal. As Head of Fisheries Outreach for Community Catch, he leads the strategic communication to fishery partners and ensures that all standards and processes are appropriate for small-scale fisheries.

Carlos holds a Ph.D. in Marine Resource Management from the University of Algarve. His work over the past two decades has focused on small-scale fisheries, with expertise in stock assessment, policy analysis, geospatial planning, co-management, and sustainable value chains. Before joining Community Catch, Carlos worked as an independent consultant across West Africa, Central America, and the Western Indian Ocean—primarily in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries—supporting projects on fisheries assessment, mapping, training, and governance.

During his Ph.D., he collaborated with fishing communities in Portugal to develop a co-management framework and explore innovative organizational models to improve and diversify market access for artisanal fishers.

Elodie Le Cornu is a social scientist with an interdisciplinary background in environmental governance and a focus on small-scale fisheries. Her passion for understanding the relationship between people and the ocean has shaped her career across academia, NGOs, and policy. Throughout her work, she always prioritizes sustainability for both communities and marine ecosystems, with a strong commitment to equity, social responsibility, and participatory approaches.

Born in France and currently based in Colorado, USA, Elodie is the Head of Standards at Community Catch. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University and a Master’s in Ocean and Coastal Management from the University of Paul Valéry in Montpellier. Her academic research explored the roles and impacts of philanthropic foundations in ocean conservation, with fieldwork conducted in Fiji and Palau.

Over the past 15 years, Elodie has led work on small-scale fisheries and seafood sustainability at Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions and, more recently, at FishChoice, where she oversaw the review of Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs).

In her spare time, Elodie enjoys painting, photography, and videography. She also loves traveling and spending time outdoors with her family and pups, especially when it involves hiking, sailing, fishing (even ice fishing!), or anything that gets her on or in the water!

Graduating with a Marine and Freshwater biology degree from the University of Hull, Abbie Topping is an Aquaculture and Fisheries specialist with nearly 10 years’ experience working in the Scottish Salmon sector, certification bodies and standards and the retail industry. Abbie has developed her skills and expertise across the commercial, ethics and sustainability, policy writing, and aquaculture and fishery standards; all of which have further developed her knowledge of the overall impacts of the seafood industry.

Abbie is based in the United Kingdom.

Ahmad Husein is a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of experience across both profit and non-profit sectors, particularly in communication, humanitarian, and conservation fields.

Graduated from Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB University in Bogor, West Java, Husein spent almost a decade working as a journalist for a couple national prominent weekly news magazines based in Jakarta. He completed his master program on communication science from the University of Indonesia. He worked 6 years with USAID Coastal Resources Management Project (CRMP) Phase 1 and 2 and USAID Local Governance Support Program (LGSP).

Husein joined the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Society (IFRC) –the largest humanitarian network in the world— in 2007 as communication coordinator and later as senior manager of national society development, covering Indonesia and Timor Leste. He left IFRC and worked with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Indonesia Program as communication manager. Husein is also a part-time consultant at Resolve Asia based in Jakarta as a communication strategic partner.

Sophie has been with Fauna & Flora for over a decade and leads Fauna & Flora’s global marine programme, supporting the implementation of the organisation’s marine portfolio across 19 countries. Sophie supports knowledge exchange and communication between Fauna & Flora’s marine projects and partners, plays a key role in external collaboration and fundraising. Her current focus is on ensuring local community voices are centred into global policy discussions, and empowering local leadership in marine conservation. Prior to joining Fauna & Flora, Sophie led coral reef research and sustainable small-scale fisheries management in southwest Madagascar. Sophie formally joined the Board for Community Catch in 2024, but had previously engaged through the advisory group for several years in the early development of the standard, and brings broad environmental conservation experience. She recently joined the international Board for the Fisheries Transparency Initiative to push for more sustainable fisheries at every level. Sophie also sits on the Expert Advisory panel for the Earthshot prize, is part of the Advisory Group for RISEUP, and is chair of Defra’s OCEAN expert committee.

John has spent more than 40 years working across global food supply chains, with a lifelong focus on environmentally and socially responsible fisheries, particularly one-by-one caught tuna. His career has combined commercial leadership, NGO collaboration, and engagement with governments of developing coastal states, principally in the Indian Ocean. While best known for work in tuna, he has been involved in the sourcing of other responsibly sourced food products supplying leading retailers worldwide. Alongside his commercial activities, he has founded and chaired international charities, supported small-scale fisheries’ access to markets, and contributed to academic, civic, and pan-Livery initiatives focused on sustainability and societal equity.

At the heart of everything he does is a belief that sustainability must put people first — protecting ecosystems and the environment while safeguarding livelihoods, human rights, and long-term food security.

Eva van Heukelom is a legal expert focused on strengthening ocean governance and fisheries management. Her background spans law, criminology, international relations, and security studies, allowing her to connect legal frameworks withoperational and political realities. She works with governments, supply chain companies, and NGOs on issues related to environmental law, maritime law, data protection, and international trade in the fisheries sector. As part of her broader work on responsible ocean governance and the fight against IUU fishing, Eva is pursuing a PhD at the University of Hamburg examining how legal protections around fisheries data can both enable and constrain transparency and international cooperation under the law of the sea.

Adam Ziyad is an expert on Indian Ocean tuna fisheries with over two decades of experience in fisheries management and regulatory oversight roles. Throughout his career, Adam has held key positions within the Ministry of Fisheries of the Maldives, including Director of Fisheries Compliance and Assistant Director of Fisheries Management. He is currently the Director General of the Ministry and has extensive experience in fisheries policy development, compliance, and the sustainable management of marine resources.

Adam has served as the Head of Delegation of the Maldives to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission for over five years and is currently the Chairperson of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, contributing to the advancement of regional and global fisheries governance. Adam has also served on the board of the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and was a member of the Committee that negotiated the China – Maldives Free Trade Agreement. Adam has also worked with the Maldives tuna fishing industry to ensure the timely implementation of regulatory requirements related to Marine Stewardship Council certification. His comprehensive knowledge of fisheries management and market dynamics positions him as a pivotal leader for the continued growth and sustainability of the Maldives’ fisheries sector.

Adam’s academic background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Science (Fisheries Management) from the Australian Maritime College and a Master’s Degree in Coastal and Marine Resources Management from the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

Charles graduated from LSE in International Relations quite a few years ago.  He went to work for a Japanese Investment bank, but his dream was to work for himself and one of his passions was food so that is where his business ended up. From the French side of the family, he was born with a culture of “real” foods, and Organico Realfoods has become the name of the company he founded and one of the brands. The other brand is Fish4Ever.

Charles and his company unite a passion for sustainability, ethics, and food and business done right! The company has stayed small but has been growing well without extra finance and surviving numerous economic crises in the process. Fish4Ever products are found in more than 4000 organic shops right across Europe – in Paris, Berlin, Milan, Amsterdam, Brussels, or London. It’s a small business with a big heart and a big reach. When the company certified B Corp it was in the top 1% of the world for environment, with the same score as Patagonia. Charles and Fish4Ever devote a lot of time working pro bono in various forums to advance sustainability and support best practise, both in fisheries and in organic foods. The company has pioneered on-pack traceability, a land-sea-people approach in fish, regenerative principles in agriculture; and has long emphasised supporting small- scale fishers, farmers, growers, and producers in an economic system that too often excludes them or actively damages and undermines their prospects.

Kafayat Fakoya is an interdisciplinary researcher and consultant with a PhD in Fisheries from Lagos State University and a strong track record as a faculty member and project leader; her work spans small‑scale fisheries, aquaculture, seafood certification and traceability, gender and social inclusion, and monitoring and evaluation. As Secretary of the Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAFS), she has driven gender‑responsive policy and practice, contributed to the GeNA – Gender in NbCS Aquaculture project, co-authored the Nigerian case study, served as national gender advisor for the Illuminating Hidden Harvest Global Study, and co‑led the Vulnerability to Viability (V2V) project in Nigeria. Kafayat’s consultancy for leading organisations, including CEFAS, The Nature Conservancy, CGIAR evaluation services, IDRC, FAO, WorldFish, ICSF, and Swedbio, underscores her influence in translating rigorous research into practical, equity‑focused solutions that advance sustainable fisheries, resilient value chains, and inclusive governance.

Andrew Hough is an expert in fishery auditing and certification. He first became involved with the MSC in the late 1990s and founded one of the first MSC Conformity Assessment Bodies, Moody Marine Ltd in 1999. He was manager of Moody Marine operations until 2011 with particular responsibility for the implementation of MSC Certification procedures and development of MSC methodologies.  He has acted as lead assessor on a large proportion of MSC pre assessments and main assessments during this time, and subsequently as team member and/or lead auditor for various assessments. This has involved stock assessment analysis, evaluation of ecosystem effects and management effectiveness of groundfish, pelagic and shellfish fisheries in various administrations around the world. From 2011 to 2021 he worked as a freelance environmental/fishery management consultant and auditor, consultancy projects include certification-related policy advice to the Association of Sustainable Fisheries. He was part of the committee developing the Responsible Fishing Scheme in the mid-2000s and has served on the Standards Oversight Committee of the FISH Crew scheme since 2020. He has been engaged in the development of Community Catch from its inception and is now the Chair of the Board of Trustees.