Texas Seafood Leader Buddy Guindon Receives the Gladding Memorial Award

Keith “Buddy” Guindon, a commercial fisherman, educator, advocate and longtime partner of Texas Sea Grant, has recently been named the 2025 recipient of the prestigious Gladding Memorial Award by the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI). The award is one of the highest honors recognizing fishers who advance conservation and sustainable fisheries management across the Gulf and Caribbean region.

For decades, Guindon has embodied the values the award celebrates: lived experience on the water, a commitment to responsible practices and a belief in uplifting the people and communities who depend on the Gulf.

Created in 2004 in honor of Peter J. Gladding – a commercial fisher whose vision helped establish the Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Florida Keys – the award recognizes exceptional fishers whose experience and conservation-minded perspectives enrich GCFI’s annual meeting. Buddy was nominated by Captain Scott Hickman, owner of Circle H Outfitters and Charters and a member of Texas Sea Grant’s Advisory Committee.

To Buddy, the award “represents a life well lived.” He notes that he’s “honored to be counted among them.”

A Texas seafood legend, Guindon began fishing after serving in the Marine Corps, entering the commercial reef fish and shrimp fisheries in 1978. What started as a single career soon grew into a multi-vessel operation supporting dozens of fishing families. In 1996, he founded Katie’s Seafood Market – and later Katie’s Seafood House – creating one of the Gulf’s most iconic, community-rooted seafood businesses. 

Guindon’s leadership spans the entire seafood value chain. As executive director of the Gulf of America Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, co-founder of Gulf Wild™ and a board member of multiple fisheries organizations, he has championed transparency, accountability and sustainability in Gulf fisheries.

Throughout his career, Guindon has never separated success from stewardship, reminding young fishermen that “being in this industry comes with the responsibility of maintaining our stocks for future generations.”

His relationship with Texas Sea Grant runs just as deep. Over the years, Guindon has partnered with the program to advance education, sustainability and the working waterfront.

“Working with Sea Grant has been a privilege,” he said. “They’re always interested in figuring out ways to improve fishermen’s lives and their businesses.”

One of his most notable roles alongside Texas Sea Grant has been as a trainer and mentor through the Gulf Commercial Fisherman Program (GCFP), a collaborative effort between Texas Sea Grant, Florida Sea Grant and the Gulf of America Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance. Through hands-on workshops, dockside instruction and time on the water, Guindon helps teach sustainable harvest practices, seamanship, quota management, traceability and real-world decision making.

“Training the next generation of commercial fishermen is the responsibility of all shareholders,” he said. “It’s how we ensure a future for our industry.”

Guindon also frequently welcomes Sea Grant staff, educators and students to Katie’s Seafood Market, turning the working dock into a classroom. These visits offer firsthand opportunities to see how seafood moves from water to plate. His willingness to open his doors and share his knowledge reflects the philosophy of transparency that strengthens the sustainable management practices across the industry.

He noted that organizations like Sea Grant “work for the betterment and the future of the commercial fishing industry – and help us understand what that means to our country.”

Throughout his career, Guindon’s advocacy has helped shape science-based policies, rebuild depleted stocks and strengthen public trust in Gulf seafood. He views this work not as a personal accomplishment, but as a shared responsibility among those who make their living from the water.

Texas Sea Grant congratulates Guindon on this well-deserved honor and is grateful for his continued partnership in building a sustainable future for Gulf fisheries and the coastal communities that depend on them.

“Being part of preparing the next generation – that’s one of my favorite things I’ve done with Texas Sea Grant,” Guindon said.

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About Texas Sea Grant

Texas Sea Grant is a unique partnership that unites the resources of the federal government, the State of Texas and universities across the state to create knowledge, tools, products and services that benefit the economy, the environment and the citizens of Texas. It is administered through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is one of 34 university-based Sea Grant Programs around the country. Texas Sea Grant is a non-academic research center at Texas A&M University. The program’s mission is to improve the understanding, wise use and stewardship of Texas coastal and marine resources.