The International Association of Fish Inspectors is delighted and honored to announce the winners of the 2026 IAFI Peter Howgate Award

They are  Ms Harini Ravi from India and Ms Riza Jane Banicod from the Republic of Philippines. 

Harini has background as a Fisheries technologist and engineering and is currently undertaking a PhD at the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI). At present, Harini is engaged in research on the life-cycle assessment of fish processing operations and cold-chain logistics in India, focusing on identifying environmental hotspots and proposing strategies to build energy-efficient, low-impact and more sustainable fish processing and distribution systems.  

Harini Rivi

Riza Jane is a Senior Researcher at the Fisheries Postharvest Research and Development Division of the Department of Agriculture – National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (DA–NFRDI) in the Philippines. She earned her master’s degree in Fisheries Science from Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea, and her field of specialization is postharvest fisheries and marketing, with particular focus on postharvest losses and waste reduction, seafood safety, product standardization, and value chain development. Her current research centers on developing new technologies to foster climate-resilient and sustainable fisheries value chains in the Philippines. She has led and contributed to several pioneering national projects, notably on fisheries postharvest loss assessment and the development of the Philippine salt industry.  

Riza Jane Banicod

 

IAFI sends our warmest congratulations to them both and we look forward to meeting them and hearing them present their work at the World Seafood Congress in Chennai, February 2026.