Connelly was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, in March 2022.
NFI shared the news via a press release on Monday, 21 November. It did not provide a date of death.
“It is with great sadness that we reflect on the loss of NFI’s President and CEO John Connelly. John led our organization with passion and a steadfast hand for nearly 20 years. He was a warm, generous man and his legacy will have an impact on NFI and the seafood industry for decades to come,” NFI said in a press release.
Connelly helped to build NFI into the leading U.S. seafood industry trade group. He helped create the Better Seafood Board, the Global Seafood Market Conference and the Seafood Nutrition Partnership; led the merger of the National Tuna Federation and subsequent development of the NFI council system; and served on multiple industry boards. He was presented with a 2022 Wallace R. Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award by the Global Seafood Alliance in October 2022.
"John was not afraid of hard work with a professional mantra of 'no job too big, no job too small.' John was a master communicator who would weave in charming personal antidotes while breaking down complex issues like corporate responsibility, sustainability, free markets, and whatever was keeping the consumer awake at night - all in the manner of an affable sweater-wearing professor," NFI said. "The NFI staff will remember his indelible impact on our lives. He was a hard-working boss whose naval officer pedigree taught him to lead from the front. He was a warm-hearted father figure who cared deeply about those around him. He was a tough, honest and funny man - with a genuine twinkle in his eye and a story for every occasion. He was someone who wrote postcards to family and friends from his travels around the world. He was a man of deep faith and happiest spending time with his family."
Connelly announced his retirement in January 2022, with a plan to leave his position by January 2023. Lisa Wallenda Picard, formerly of the trade group representing the U.S. turkey industry, was named NFI’s incoming president and CEO in November 2022.
Connelly will be memorialized at a ceremony on Sunday, 15 January at the Global Seafood Market Conference in Palm Springs, California, U.S.A.
In memoriam of Connelly, NFI has established The John Connelly Intern Scholarship at the College of the Holy Cross, Connelly’s alma mater, to benefit the Semester in D.C. Program. The scholarship will be awarded annually to an NFI advocacy intern and will also benefit other interns at Washington, D.C.-based food trade associations, NFI said.
In a March 2022 interview with SeafoodSource, Connelly was asked what his best and worst days at NFI had been.
“There are two questions I just can’t answer. The first is, ‘What is your favorite seafood?’ mostly because nearly all seafood is delicious and I’m also ecumenical about our members products! The second is, 'What is your best day at work?' I’m proud to say that I do not need a third hand to count the number of days over the past 19-plus years that I have not wanted to go to work. NFI and the seafood community are a fascinating group of people to work for and alongside,” he said. “My saddest days are the ones when we learn of the loss of the leaders that built our industry. Seafood is such a personal business, and any time an industry giant passes, it causes me to reflect on if I am doing enough to help grow the industry.”
Having identified its weakness in 2023, entering the first quarter of 2024, Vietnam's shrimp industry has undergone a clear change, reflected through increases in exports to major markets.
It is necessary to develop more detailed and consistent regulations on seafood production for export in line with the implementation of solutions towards sustainable and responsible fishing practices.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) After increasing to the highest level in 2022, Canada's tuna imports in 2023 dropped to the lowest level in the past 10 years, reaching 35 thousand tons, down 24% over the year. Canada is currently one of the 15 largest tuna import markets in the world.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) Chile, one of the countries participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has tended to increase tuna imports from Vietnam in the past 3 years. According to statistics from Vietnam Customs, this South American country imported nearly 3 million USD of tuna products from Vietnam in the first 2 months of 2024, an increase of 58% over the same period in 2023.
Economic and social development activities, overexploitation, pollution, diseases, and climate change have adversely affected the ecological environment, leading to a severe decline or the extinction of many precious indigenous aquatic species.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) The prices of pangasius fingerlings and raw pangasius in ponds fell in March, following steady increases in the first two months of this year.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) In February 2024, the average export price of Vietnamese pangasius to markets increased by 4%, although the volume decreased by 40% compared to the previous month.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) There was a 6% decline in Vietnam's pangasius exports to Brazil in February 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with the total value reaching 6 million USD.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first two months of 2024, Poland—which ranks as Vietnam's fourth-largest EU supplier of tuna—became a noteworthy market. Vietnam's tuna exports value to Poland increased by 786% in comparison to the same period last year, totaling over $2 million USD and contributing about 2% of the country's overall tuna exports revenue.
Regulations on the protection and sustainable development of aquatic resources, Việt Nam's legitimate rights at sea in accordance with international law and the achievements that the country has carved out to remove the European Union’s “yellow card” will be brought closer to local people.
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