For most consumers, the Marine Stewardship Council, today the only sustainable fisheries certification body that matters, remains a relative unknown, and several seafood manufacturers aren't sure, exactly, what displaying the little blue fish does for them, if anything.

Howes, a former director with the sustainable development charity Forum for the Future, was hired to the MSC post not long after two audits blasting the program led to serious internal examination and several layoffs.

With his transition period over and former CEO Brendan May now gone, Howes is setting up an ambitious agenda that underscores communication, relationship-building, and -- perhaps most important of all for the MSC -- fundraising.