Russell F. Smith III

Russell F. Smith III is deputy assistant secretary for international fisheries at NOAA and is responsible for overseeing NOAA's work with other countries to ensure that fish stocks are sustainably managed. He serves as the U.S. federal commissioner for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and the International Whaling Commission.

Smith came to NOAA from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) where he was the director for International Environmental Policy and Multilateral Environmental Agreements since 2006. He joined USTR in 2002 as a deputy director in the Office of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Prior to that, he had many years of experience at the U.S. Department of Justice and in private practice.

He holds a juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts degree from Yale. Smith is married to Teresa Ferrante and has two daughters and five granddaughters.