Meet the Team
Robert Reyerse
Board Chair
After graduating from the University of BC with a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting & Management Information Systems, Robert began his career as a CA with Touche Ross in Vancouver, with the objective of joining a global management consulting firm. After nearly 10 years with Deloitte’s Consulting in both Toronto and Vancouver he began several independent consulting engagements with the ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam. Subsequently seeking a more relaxed lifestyle, he moved his family to Harrison Hot Springs. In Harrison he has taken on a number of roles including President of the Chamber of Commerce, Chair of Economic Development and in 2011 Executive Director of Tourism Harrison. During this time, Robert worked closely with a number of local angling guides, eventually taking on the part time position of Executive Director of the Fraser Valley Angling Guides association before joining our Board as a Director and Chair.
Rick Hansen
Founder and Honourary Chair
Rick Hansen is the Founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation and a passionate supporter of people with disabilities in Canada and throughout the world. Rick is best known as the “Man In Motion” for his epic 26-month, 34 country, 40,000 km wheelchair trip around the world to make the world inclusive for people with disabilities and to find a cure for paralysis.
Since the end of the Man In Motion World Tour in 1987, Rick has dedicated his life to creating a world that is accessible and inclusive for all by removing barriers for people with disabilities through the Rick Hansen Foundation. Rick and his team at the Foundation are dedicated to raising awareness, changing attitudes, helping create accessible
spaces, and liberating the amazing potential of people with disabilities. A long-time conservationist for salmon and White Sturgeon, Rick created the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society in 1997 and was founding chair of the Board of Directors. Rick continues to provide leadership, strategy, and inspiration to the Board of Directors to help accelerate the pace of recovery for sturgeon and protect this species for future generations.
Sarah Scherier
Executive Director
Sarah provides strategic leadership to advance research initiatives, conservation efforts, and collaborative management of White Sturgeon in the Fraser River. She plays a key role in building strong partnerships with stakeholder groups, Indigenous communities, and government leaders. A recognized voice in sturgeon conservation, Sarah regularly presents at international conferences and engages with media, schools, and community groups to share the sturgeon story. With over 25 years of experience in science, health, and fisheries conservation, she has advised a range of organizations—including FRSCS Founder and Honourary Chair, Rick Hansen—on critical conservation and policy issues.
Board of Directors
Sead Hamzagic
Director
Sead Hamzagic is a chartered professional accountant with 37 years of public practice and financial management experience. He is well versed in reporting requirements for public companies, private companies, and charities. He has and continues to serve as CFO for several TSX Venture Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), and private companies and a board member and treasurer for the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Foundation since September 2009.
Douglas Mason
Director
Douglas is currently CEO of Waterfront Capital Partners Inc, and Magnum Goldcorp Inc. From 2015 through 2019, Douglas served as a Director of Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd., a hemp processing and natural food manufacturer, and served as the Company’s CEO for a 2-year period from 2017 through 2019. From 1988 through 2005, Douglas served as President & Chief Executive Officer and as a director of Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation, a producer of premium beverage products. During his 20 years in the beverage industry, Douglas built a reputation for innovation and has been credited as being one of the pioneers of the New Age Beverage category. Douglas is past Deputy chair of the Collingwood School Board of Trustees and a past Chair of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame Foundation and remains an active member of the Foundation. He is also an active supporter and recruiter of participants for fund raising events for the Rick Hansen Institute. Douglas graduated from North Vancouver Senior Secondary and has been a North Shore resident for all his life. He and his wife, Carla, reside in West Vancouver with their son Lucas.
Ryan Jones
Director
Ryan Jones is a Maple Ridge, BC born and raised local. He and his wife, Michelle are proud parents of two wonderful humans: Tyler and Maverick. Mr. Jones is a passionate outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hunting and angling. His love for the outdoors has taught him the importance of speaking up for those that don’t have a voice and sees the study and practice of conservation as the vehicle to accomplish an ethical and sustainable practice of wildlife and fisheries management. Speaking of vehicles, Mr. Jones is a 3rd generation auto dealer with his family at Marv Jones Honda. These experiences have provided valuable experience in managing teams, building long term mutually beneficial relationships, and insights into government relations and politics through work on various industry associations and boards.
Caroline Roberts
Director
Caroline Roberts is an associate lawyer at a well-known Vancouver law firm Callison & Hanna, who specialize exclusively in Indigenous Law. Her law practice focus is on strategic consultation and accommodation processes, resolving historic grievances though the federal Specific Claims Process including negotiated settlement, hearings and appeals and implementing treaty related measures. Caroline graduated with a specialization in Aboriginal Law from the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia (“UBC”). Prior to law school, she earned a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Indigenous Studies from UBC. Caroline contributed to LexisNexis’ most recent legal textbook entitled “Legal Issues on Indigenous Economic Development” by researching and writing various chapters on the topics of financing and taxation. Caroline has delivered guest lectures at UBC’s Allard Hall on Indigenous Economic Development and at the Pacific Business and Law Institute on Specific Claims. Caroline is thrilled to have the opportunity to apply her education and experience to work with First Nations in matters of governance, economic development, and the evaluation and negotiations of various matters. Caroline brings a unique perspective to her work, which includes respect and appreciation for the diversity of Indigenous peoples and cultures throughout British Columbia, Canada and the world. Caroline is a member of the Wei WaiKum First Nation near Campbell River, BC.
Mary Sue Atkinson
Director, Chair of Communications and Outreach Committee
Mary Sue has been on the Board since 1999 and remains the longest standing Director on the Board currently. She is a long time conservationist and is very active with our board helping with our media opportunities, finding new granting and funding opportunities and is also a long time donor of the Society. She is active in issues related to both sturgeon and salmon and recently won the Queen’s Jubilee Award for Volunteerism.
Jason Hwang
Director
Jason started his career as a Habitat Biologist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the BC Interior North region. He reviewed development projects to assess their impact on fish habitat as well as engaged in community outreach. Jason was also the lead on the Nechako Fisheries Conservation Program Technical Committee where they assessed Alcan’s flow releases in the Nechako River to lessen the impact on salmon. In 1999, Jason was promoted to Area Manager, Ecosystem Management Branch for the BC Interior. He managed the habitat program as well as the Salmonid Enhancement Program, which consisted of thirty-five staff and a $4M budget. He built relationships across stakeholders in industry, NGO’s, government, First Nations and the public to increase awareness and buy-in for habitat conservation and restoration. In 2012, Jason changed roles to represent DFO’s Pacific region in the national context during changes to the Fisheries Act. Jason gathered input and feedback to help create a new Fisheries Protection Policy and regulatory framework. He also served as the link between DFO and the provincial/local governments of BC and the Yukon. He acted as a subject matter expert and advised the policy writers of key issues and considerations. In 2015, Jason moved into the Regional Manager, Salmon Enhancement Program for the Pacific Region position. He managed a budget of $9M, forty-five staff and more than 10,000 volunteers. He worked with PSF as well as other NGO’s and stakeholders to build strong partnerships and enable salmon habitat restoration and increase community involvement. Jason earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Simon Fraser University in 1994. He also earned a Technical Diploma in Fisheries, Wildlife & Recreation from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 1991.
John Rissling
Director, Chair of Resource Development Committee
John has been a volunteer tagger for 25 years primarily in the Lower river from Douglas Island to the estuary and has been member of the FRSCS Board of Directors for over 20 years. John has an extensive background in business having spent 48 years in the construction sector and as founder of Rissling Services Ltd., a 44 year old civil construction firm building projects throughout the Lower mainland region. He is the chair of our Fundraising committee and leads the FRSCS Sturgeon Conservation Tagging Derby Event and Awards Dinner. John is a long-time donor to the FRSCS.
Advisors
Tony Nootebos
Advisor, Conservation and Recreational Fishing
Tony has been a Fraser Valley guide for over 27 years. Early in his career, Tony recognized conservation was vital in keeping fisheries resources available to everyone. He quickly became an industry leader and helped set the example as to how industry and community can work hand in hand towards fish conservation. In 1999, he began volunteering for the Monitoring and Assessment Tagging program. He demonstrated leadership by setting the mandate that his team of guides sample every Sturgeon encountered to support the FRSCS conservation effort. Thanks to that directive, Tony and his team have supplied over 50% of the samples in the database to date. A former Director for the Fraser Valley Angling Guide Association (FVAGA), Tony stepped down from this role to redirect his energy towards building positive and collaborative relationships across all fishing sectors within British Columbia. Over the course of his extensive career and continued leadership, Tony also works with Salmon conservation, helping to deliver numerous research and First Nations community fishing initiatives. For example, in 2010-2012 he worked closely with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, under the leadership and direction of Howie Wright, to develop a troll harvest fishery in Osoyoos Lake. This included training of 10 Alliance members to become even more efficient in utilising sport fishing methods to harvest for the community while at the same time gaining maximum value per fish. Mr. Nootebos remains the sole owner of BC Sportfishing Group and now dedicates much of his time to his role as Consultant for the Office of Rick Hansen, focusing on White Sturgeon and Salmon conservation efforts.
Karl English
Advisor, Science and Technical Committee
Former Chair of the FRSCS, Karl English has spent most of his career designing and implementing studies to improve the quality and quantity of information available for the management and assessment of Pacific salmon and steelhead stocks. Karl has conducted projects throughout British Columbia and in Washington State, Alaska, and the Yukon. He has designed catch monitoring programs for commercial, sport, and First Nation fisheries; directed multi-year studies to assess fish distribution, abundance, and migration behaviour in coastal waters and large river systems; and provided expert advice to First Nations, industry, NGOs, university researchers, and all levels of government. Karl has also directed research on other fish species including: white sturgeon, arctic cisco, broad whitefish, and reviewed research and stock assessment programs associated with the fisheries in the Canadian Great Lakes. In addition, Karl has extensive experience in Treaty negotiations process through his role as fisheries advisor during the negotiation of the Nisga’a Treaty and Tsawwassen Treaty.
David Robichaud
Chair, Science and Technical Committee and LGL Fisheries Ecologist & Biometrician
Dr. Robichaud has been working with the FRSCS on Fraser River White Sturgeon populations and issues surrounding their management for 17 years. He has assisted in the development and implementation of sturgeon population models, developed methods for estimating sturgeon catch and effort estimates from angler questionnaire surveys, directed multi-year acoustic telemetry studies of sturgeon movements in the lower Fraser River, and studies to assess the relationship between juvenile sturgeon and key habitat variables on the Fraser and Columbia rivers. In addition to his extensive sturgeon work, he has conducted studies on juvenile and adult salmon in BC and Washington State and cod on Canada’s east coast.
Volunteer Taggers
The scientific data collection and sampling of White Sturgeon for FRSCS research is carried out by accredited volunteers who are specifically trained by the FRSCS in specialized handling techniques and research protocols. These volunteers include First Nations fishers, federal and provincial representatives, biologists, scientists, recreational and professional anglers, and experienced river guides, along with FRSCS staff and members of the Board of Directors.
Accredited Guides
The FRSCS Accredited Guides are professional fishing guides who are ambassadors of the FRSCS and our programs, highly knowledgeable in sturgeon and the ecosystem and help support our specific projects and Experience Days. Accredited Guides are highly trained for sturgeon sampling, best handling practices as well as have high level training in safety, emergencies, protection and safety insurance, far exceeding the industry standard.