New name, New Chair, New Commitment to Industry Research

January 26, 2012 Miami, FL After 40 successful years of addressing the research needs of the seafood community, the Fisheries Scholarship Fund (FSF) is evolving into the Seafood Industry Research Fund (SIRF). The change marks a new beginning for the philanthropic organization, which remains closely aligned with NFI as it redoubles its commitment to providing access to research it has sponsored, with the launch of a new website www.sirfonline.org this week. The site will serve as a public database for the nearly 400 research projects funded by the group over the last four decades.

This is an exciting, new chapter for our organization, said SIRF Chairman Joel Kolen. Through key partnerships and industry donations, SIRF has helped fund scientific, market and economic research that benefits the whole seafood community. We hope the availability of our research online will prove to be a valuable tool for researchers and industry alike.

SIRF is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of seafood industry experts, and with a small overhead, nearly all of the donations raised by the Fund are used for research. As new seafood related research needs arise, SIRF will fund the research that addresses these key issues. Through SIRF, universities such as Louisiana State University, University of Florida, and Virginia Tech have and will continue to receive funding for projects that will expand and enhance the seafood industry.

The retiring chair, Murry Berger, has always known that the research made possible through the Fund would help the seafood industry effectively tackle challenges and provide vital data for the seafood community that would help it grow, advance and create the best possible products, Kolen said. Moving forward, one of SIRFs new goals will be to increase the amount of research were able to support, and well be focusing more energy on expanding our funds through grants and multi-year commitments, while getting other industry groups involved.

Kolen will present SIRFs new name and look, as well as its online database today at the NFI Global Seafood Market Conference. Next week, he will host a Google+ hangout for press and researchers to answer questions about the direction and focus of SIRF and introduce the database with a brief tutorial for the group. The Hangout begins at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 2. To join the discussion, add Eating Seafood to your circles on Google+ and you will receive a Hangout invitation just before we begin.