To keep up to date with the latest personnel changes across the seafood industry, SeafoodSource is compiling a regular round-up of hiring announcements and other personnel-related shifts worldwide. If you have an announcement, please send it to [email protected].
– After serving only four months as CEO of Norwegian seafood importing firm Hofseth North America, Erik Nobbe has left the company; James O’Sullivan, formerly the chief financial and chief legal officer, has been named Hofseth NA’s new president.
The Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.A.-based North American division of the Norwegian aquaculture company Hofseth International has seen a number of executive changes in recent months. Though he maintains his role as an advisor to the company, Hofseth NA’s long-time CEO and Co-Founder Matt Mixter left the firm in the summer.
Last month, the company named Martin Ponce de Leon vice president of U.S. sales and operations. Ponce de Leon most recently worked at Miami, Florida, U.S.A.-based salmon producer BlueGlacier.
Will Richert, formerly Hofseth NA’s global supply chain coordinator and sales development manager, has also left the company. He joins Mixter at the seafood venture he founded in 2020: Wixter Seafood.
– Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Channel Fish Processing has hired seven key employees in a major expansion.
The family-owned company, which has grown from a Boston fish processor of cod and haddock to become a large-scale nationwide seafood distributor, has welcomed Alex Brodil as vice president of finance and strategy, Ben Brennan as controller, Aleksandrs Zujevs as maintenance manager, Betsi Selset as director of national accounts, Victor Guedez as director of fresh sales, Jessica Goodhue as environmental health and safety manager, and Willie Johnson as quality assurance manager.
Channel Fish Processing recently won several major contracts to supply fish to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including a USD 2.1 million (EUR 1.9 million) contract to supply catfish, a USD 33.9 million (EUR 31 million) contract to supply Alaska pollock, and a USD 988,559 (EUR 902,000) contract for frozen pollock sticks, among others.
"This workforce expansion underscores our commitment to excellence in the seafood industry. Each new hire plays a pivotal role in advancing our strategic objective to provide the highest quality fresh and value-added seafood to our customers," Channel Fish President Tom Zaffiro said. "As we continue to grow our business as an American manufacturer, we remain committed to delivering high-quality products while supporting our workforce with enhanced safety protocols.”
– Bay de Verde, Newfoundland-based Quinlan Brothers, a family-owned seafood processor, announced that Candace Seymour would join the firm as director of finance and accounting.
Seymour brings many years of finance executive experience to the role, having previously served as CFO at Campbell’s Ships Supplies and as controller at construction company Pennecon.
Quinlan Brothers was recently under fire for charges brought by the Newfoundland Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Agriculture (DFFA) quality assurance program, which discovered that the company had allegedly processed dead snow crab and moved snow crab while under detention. Quinlan Brothers defended itself from the charges of impropriety.
