Dr. Xiao Recio-Blanco develops partnerships focused on a thriving blue economy. He specializes in fostering entrepreneurship and innovative fisheries management to create financial stability for fisheries-dependent communities worldwide.
Prior to joining Builders Vision, Xiao was the Director of the Ocean Program at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), a research and education center in Washington, D.C., where he led the organization’s ocean law and policy efforts on issues ranging from sustainable fisheries to marine protected areas enforcement, the High Seas Treaty, and coastal ecosystem restoration. His research specialized in securing equitable legal treatment for small-scale fisheries communities, as well as in the regulatory design of marine protected areas and the implementation of marine spatial planning through legal reform. Originally from Galicia, Spain, Xiao holds a JD from the Complutense University of Madrid and an SJD (PhD) from Duke University.