Bob Desautel, co-founder, president and CEO of Global Seas, will discuss the future of efficiency, safety and sustainability in the fishing industry in today’s keynote address on the Main Stage at 3:30 p.m.
Desautel started shrimping in Kodiak at age 18 to help pay for college, bought his first boat at 21 and ran other vessels until retiring from the ocean in 2002. Global Seas’ mission is to provide the most advanced, dynamic and quality vessels.
In 1994, Bob Desautel co-founded Nina Fisheries, a fishing company that became international in 1998 as it extended into Chile and Argentina. In 2001, Desautel co-founded Global Seas, a subsidiary of Nina Fisheries, which quickly became one of the West Coast’s premier vessel management companies. Under Desautel’s direction, Global Seas expanded its to the U.S. East Coast and ventured into the maritime research field in 2002.
In 1978, while studying business at the University of Nevada, Desautel began his career as a deckhand fishing in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. In 1980, he advanced to the role of captain and served in that capacity on a variety of fishing vessels until 2002, when he retired from the ocean to focus on the expansion of Global Seas.
Desautel has served as president and board member of the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association, advocating for safety education in the commercial fishing industry by providing information about U.S. Coast Guard requirements, OSHA compliance standards, MARPOL, hands-on training programs, and safety seminars and workshops. In 1993, Desautel co-founded United Catcher Boats, served as a board member and later as vice president, all the while promoting the organization’s importance to Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and West Coast fisheries. His efforts serving on these boards, as well as his involvement in other fisheries organizations, have improved safety and created efficiencies in the commercial fishing and maritime industries. Desautel holds a U.S. Coast Guard (issue no. 6) Masters 3000 ITC License.
