Loch Long Salmon MD takes top job at New Zealand fish farmer
Stewart Hawthorn has moved nearly 12,000 miles but is still committed to Scottish closed containment project
Fish farmer and business executive Stewart Hawthorn has been appointed as the new chief executive of Akaroa King Salmon in New Zealand.
Hawthorn is managing director of Loch Long Salmon which is seeking to establish floating closed containment farms in Loch Long and Loch Linnhe in Scotland, and is a former farming director of Scotland trout producer Dawnfresh, now owned by Mowi.
He spent almost 13 years in New Zealand as general manager aquaculture for the New Zealand King Salmon Company between 1997 and 2010.
Akaroa King Salmon produces around 1,000 tonnes per year of king salmon ((Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Akaroa, around 50 miles from Christchurch where it operates a smokehouse and factory.
“I am looking forward to working with the team at Akaroa King Salmon as we seek to build on the long history of this boutique provider of the finest king salmon in the world. Everyone is very proud of our carefully and responsibly raised salmon from Akaroa’s pristine waters on Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Te Waipounamu (South Island),” Hawthorn said in a post on LinkedIn.
Scotland desperately needs new approaches and this project must be given the chance to progress
Stewart Hawthorn, who will continue as a director of Loch Long Salmon
He added in a second post that he will continue to support Loch Long Salmon as a director and founder. “Scotland desperately needs new approaches and this project must be given the chance to progress. I hope that the Scottish Government will act and approve this project. It is supported by the closest community, by elected councillors, by local community groups, by MSPs and by the local MP. Let's innovate. Let's progress.”
Akaroa King Salmon is an entirely New Zealand owned partnership that includes Ngāti Porou, Ōnuku Runanga - the mana moana (or guardians) of Akaroa Harbour - and the founding Bates family. Current chief executive Duncan Bates will remain at Akaroa in a board role.
Preferred choice
“After 40 years building Akaroa King Salmon it was important to me to find the right person to lead Akaroa in the years ahead,” Bates said in a press release.
“Stewart, who I have known for more than two decades, was my preferred choice as he brings more than 35 years of farming and salmon business experience to the role.”
Akaroa King Salmon says it is the world’s smallest in-sea king salmon farmer and was the first in the world to replace wild caught fish oil with farmed and fermented algae oil - an initiative that earned it the “Future Innovation” award at the NZ Seafood Stars in 2023.
The company is also the first king salmon farmer to implement the Blue Impact feed programme from Biomar as part of its effort to become a net positive seafood producer while lowering its carbon footprint and increasing its use of regenerative and circular products in feed.
