The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has named a successor to John Connelly, the group's longtime president who announced in January he would retire at the end of this year.

Lisa Wallenda Picard has been chosen to succeed Connelly, who served as the trade association's leader for the past 20 years. Picard will join NFI in mid-December.

Picard joins NFI from the National Turkey Federation (NFT), where she is the senior vice president for Policy, Trade and Regulatory Affairs.

Picard joined NTF in 2011 and previous to that appointment was the chief of staff for USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).