Kingfish Company founder stepping down as chief executive
Ohad Maiman takes advisory role as he seeks ‘other disruptive technologies and species’
aaThe Kingfish Company’s founder Ohad Maiman is stepping aside from his role as chief executive, the on-land fish farmer announced today.
Maiman will “transition from his role as CEO into an advisory position where he will continue to support the company as an active founder”, said the company.
In this role, he will continue to support the company’s US development, and provide counsel to management and the board while remaining committed to the company’s ongoing success, The Kingfish Company said in a press release.
An honour and a privilege
In a letter to staff, Maiman stated: “Building The Kingfish Company over the last seven years from a PowerPoint presentation to a sector leader as founder/CEO has been an honour and a privilege. I am immensely proud of how far we have come in proving the business case for land-based Yellowtail Kingfish, and grateful to have had the chance to work with some of the most talented and capable professionals in the business.
“As the company developed through the start-up and scale-up phases and has reached a mature significant operational scale with proven sector leading KPIs (key performance indicators), and with a strong leadership team in place across our vertically integrated departments, I have decided that now would be a good time to hand off the CEO role and have worked closely with the board to ensure a smooth transition.
“I will continue to closely advise management and the Board and support The Kingfish Company as it continues to build on its first mover position and deliver on its immense expansion potential, and will personally look to develop and support other disruptive technologies and species in the sector.”
'A natural evolution'
Executive chairman Hans den Bieman will serve as interim chief executive while the search takes place for a long-term replacement. Den Bieman has worked closely with Maiman since the beginning of the company.
“Over the last seven years I have worked closely with Ohad and was thoroughly impressed with his vision, relentless hard work, and his ability as founder and CEO to build and grow the company from an idea into an industry leading full-scale international operation,” said den Bieman.
“This is a natural evolution for a founder that has brought the company to a strong and healthy position, and as interim CEO I will work closely with Ohad through this transition period, while supporting the company’s solid operation until a permanent replacement has been identified.”
The Kingfish Company recently announced strong volume growth of yellowtail (Seriola lalandi) while increasing sales prices, as well as the final approval of permits needed to begin building its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Jonesport, Maine, in the US, which will have a production capacity of 8,500 tonnes.
Current annual production capacity at its Kingfish Zeeland facility in the Netherlands is 1,500 tonnes and an expansion is under way to increase that to 3,500 tonnes by early next year.
