Gerard van Balsfoort is retiring as president of the Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA) after 16 years in the role.

He will be replaced by Tim Heddema, who joined the PFA in August last year as vice-president after a civil service career in which he most recently served as an agriculture and fisheries diplomat at the Dutch Embassy in London and as the Dutch Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.

The PFA represents the interests of nine European pelagic freezer-trawler companies.