On-land salmon farmer names new finance chief
Andfjord Salmon, which is planning to produce 70,000 tonnes of fish a year in three on-land farms on the Norwegian island of Andøya, has appointed a new chief financial officer as it nears completion of its first salmon pool.
Bjarne Martinsen is moving to Andfjord from a position as finance manager with Norway’s food safety authority, Mittilsynet. He is a state authorised public accountant from NHH (Norwegian School of Economics) and has extensive industry leadership and financial experience from banking, insurance, TV distribution and auditing.
“To be able to work with a sustainable and innovative company like this, is an opportunity that only occurs once. I am looking forward to getting started. Leaving Mattilsynet is a pity, but I had to get on this amazing sustainability train,” Martinsen said in a press release from Andfjord.
Exciting task
The company has also named co-founder Helge Krøgenes as chief commercial officer.
Krøgenes has previously been head of both finance and business developments at Andfjord.
“It will be very exciting to take on the next task in this adventure. As CCO, it will be my job to make the market ready for the Andfjord salmon, as well as ensuring good utilisation of the commercial potential in all parts of the company,” said Krøgenes.
Martinsen and Krøgenes will begin their new roles on January 1.
Flow-through system
Andford Salmon has permission to grow 10,000 tonnes of salmon at Kvalnes on Andøya and plans to grow another 60,000 tonnes of fish at two other locations further up the island’s east coast.
The company is using a form of flow-through system in pools that are blasted out of the bedrock so that that they are below sea level. This means less energy is used to pump sea water from depth into the pools.
The first phase of the Kvalnes development, which will have a pool with a capacity for 1,000 tonnes of biomass, will be finished later this year, and work has been accelerated on the rest of the site.
Phase 1 was originally scheduled to have been finished and stocked in September, but work was disrupted due to the Covid-19 epidemic’s effect on travel. Fish will now go into the pool next spring.
