Brian Blanchard has been hired by New Zealand’s Mount Cook Alpine Salmon as its new director of aquaculture.
Mount Cook Alpine Salmon (MCAS) operates freshwater king salmon farms on canals in the MacKenzie District on New Zealand’s South Island. It also operates a processing plant in Timaru and a value-added processing plant in Christchurch. The company sells its product into Australia, Dubai, Singapore, China, Japan and the United States. It has about 150 employees.
Blanchard will be based at the company’s headquarters in Twizel, New Zealand. The role of aquaculture director is new for MCAS, and the company has made it part of the senior management team, with responsibility for all of the company’s salmon farming operations, including the company’s hatchers, according to a press release appearing on New Zealand news site Voxy.
"Much of our salmon is produced for high-end export markets where customers expect us to perform and deliver to a set of global benchmarks," said MCAS CEO David Cole. "Having someone of Brian’s experience will be invaluable in helping us meet and exceed these expectations."
Blanchard, 50, has a master’s degree in science from the University of Hull in England, a graduate diploma in aquaculture technology from the Marine Institute of Newfoundland in Canada and a BSc in biology from St Francis Xavier University, Voxy reported.
"This is a spectacular opportunity to be involved with a company that has a clear strategy to produce the best salmon in the world and believe me, this really is the best salmon I have ever tasted," Blanchard said.
