Seema is the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association.

Founded in 1989, it represents a united voice of the surf industry.

It's comprised of brands, retailers, board builders, now wave park operators, and of course, media and suppliers,

all in an effort to support healthy, sustainable growth for the surf industry.

In addition to the various yearly events and conferences that they host, they also host an

environmental fund and humanitarian fund, collecting and allocating resources back to health

and wellness of the oceans and the people whom the surf industry would cease to exist without.

So they've grown to play a crucial role in all that we do and how you experience surfing.

Today's episode took place at their Seema Super Summit, where I was asked to host a chat

with Visla CEO, Paul Nadeh, about the state of the industry.

And Nade is uniquely qualified to speak on this, not only because of his 50 years of

operating in various aspects of the surf industry, but more importantly,

for his role as a contributor to surf culture. Born in Durban, South Africa in 1955,

he began surfing at age 10. Alongside surfing, he developed an early passion for both shaping and

photography, and he co-founded Larmont surfboards in 1974

with Shaper Mike Larmont. The following year, he went to Hawaii and won the 1975 Smyranoff

amateur at Sunset Beach. He became the South African national champion in 1975 and then

returned to Hawaii in 1976 and finaled at the pipe

masters, finishing third behind winner, Rory Russell, and runner-up Jerry Lopez. Mark Richards

finished fourth in that event. The same year, back in South Africa, he founded ZigZag Magazine

and served as their

publisher and staff photographer while simultaneously having his photos published in Surfer and Surfing

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