North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission

Kjartan Hoydal - Secretary
Before becoming Secretary of NEAFC, Kjartan Hoydal was the head of the Faroese Fisheries Administration and  represented the Faroese Government as a Head of Delegation, mediator and observer in a variety of negotiations.

He has worked with the Nordic Council of Ministers as Secretary for Nordic Atlantic Cooperation, and has served on the board of various organisations including the Danish Institute of Marine Research and the Faroese Aquaculture Research Station. He chaired the North Atlantic Marine Mammals Commission, NAMMCO and  also served as President of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, NAFO.

He trained in Biology and Marine Ecology at the University of Copenhagen and subsequently specialised in the areas of fish biology, fish stock assessment and fisheries management.

Joao Neves - IT Manager and VMS Administrator
Joao Neves graduated from the officers' training school of the Portuguese Air Force in 1980 and stayed with the force until 1985. From 1985, Joao worked with various fisheries companies and trade associations in Portugal, Canada and Angola before joining the European Commission in 1993 as a fisheries inspector.

In 1998 he worked for theEuropean Commission in a unit responsible for Regional Fisheries Management Organisations before joining the NEAFC Secretariat in 1999.

Kate Partridge - Office Manager
Kate Partridge joined the NEAFC Secretariat on 1 July 1999, the day it moved into its new offices in Berners Street. She is responsible for arranging and organising NEAFC meetings as well as the day to day running of the office, including handling general enquiries, editing and writing reports, some accounting and staff matters.

Before coming to NEAFC, she played a similar role in a pan-European environmental NGO. She has a BA Hons in Humanities from Birkbeck College which she gained by studying part-time whilst working at NEAFC.

Rachel Lewsley - IT Assistant
Rachel worked in IT and web design for the Financial Times newspaper and for various charities and events management companies before coming to NEAFC at the end of 2003.

Before this she worked in theatre finance and administration. She gained a Masters degreee in Theatre Production from the University of London (Goldsmiths College) and a BA Hons in English Literature and Drama from the University of Hull.