Lawyer and aquaculturist Jim Heerin is president of Best Aquaculture Practices Certification Management. He has served the BAP program since 2006, when he became executive vice president of BAPCM's forerunner, the Aquaculture Certification Council. Heerin was also the treasurer of the Global Aquaculture Alliance until 2005.

In 1966, while practicing law in Pennsylvania, USA, Heerin formed Sea Farms, Inc., a start-up enterprise dedicated to shrimp farm research and development. A Founding Member of the GAA, Sea Farms later became Sea Farms International, Ltd. Its integrated hatchery, production and processing facilities in Honduras supply value-added products to high-end markets in the U.S. and Europe.