October 28, 2024 — The following was released by At-sea Processors Association:
Stephanie Madsen, at the helm of the At-sea Processors Association (APA) since 2007, will retire at the end of the year. Matt Tinning will become CEO, while Caitlin Yeager will join APA as Vice President of Policy and Engagement.
October 28, 2024 – After almost five decades working with and championing the Alaska fishing industry, Stephanie Madsen will retire at the end of the year. Madsen began working with fishing industry leaders after moving to Unalaska more than 40 years ago. She served two terms on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council—four years as the first woman Chair—and as Vice President of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association. She has served as Executive Director of APA for the last 18 years.
Matt Tinning will become APA’s new CEO. Tinning joined the association in 2019 after 11 years working in the environmental community. He will continue to lead the association’s national policy, global sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility portfolios while serving as CEO.
Caitlin Yeager will join APA as Vice President of Policy and Engagement. Yeager has worked in North Pacific fisheries for the last 14 years, most recently leading Alaska Boat Company as its General Manager.
Jim Johnson, President of APA, offered the following comments on Ms. Madsen’s retirement and the association’s new leadership team:
“Stephanie Madsen is a steadfast leader of our industry and we are grateful for her lifetime of dedicated and talented service. When she arrived in Dutch Harbor more than four decades ago, our nation’s Alaska pollock industry was in its infancy. Today, we are proud global leaders in responsible fisheries management and food production. Stephanie’s strategic guidance during this period of growth and improvement was instrumental at every step. A remarkable leader for APA, the Alaska pollock sector, and the North Pacific fishing industry, we thank her and wish her the very best on a well-deserved retirement.”
APA President Jim Johnson continued:
“We are confident that Matt Tinning and Caitlin Yeager will be strong leaders of APA in the years ahead. During his tenure at APA, Matt has led critical projects for the association, working cross-functionally to strengthen our sector’s presence in Washington, D.C. and extend the global leadership position of the Alaska pollock industry on sustainability and human rights. We are also extremely excited to welcome Caitlin to the APA team. She has a strong reputation and demonstrated track record of experience and success in Alaska Region fisheries, as a groundfish fisheries observer in the Bering Sea, a catcher vessel cooperative manager, and most recently leading Alaska Boat Company, a pollock and crab harvesting company. Caitlin has served on the Board of United Catcher Boats and currently chairs the North Pacific Research Board Advisory Panel. She will be an essential member of APA’s leadership team in the years ahead.”
APA represents five companies that operate catcher-processor vessels in the Eastern Bering Sea Alaska pollock fishery: American Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, Glacier Fish Company, Arctic Storm Management Group, and Coastal Villages Region Fund. For almost four decades, the association has engaged in science, policy and advocacy to support its members, the 30,000 Americans who rely on Alaska pollock for their livelihoods, and the wider North Pacific seafood sector.