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].
- Juneau, Alaska U.S.A.-based Sealaska has announced CEO Anthony Mallott is stepping down to support the company’s leadership repositioning.
Mallott said he is leaving to bring new leadership the Alaska Native Corporation, and his resignation will be effective 1 January, 2024.
“Everything we’ve been doing is working, and our businesses have exceptional leadership,” Sealaska Board Executive Chair Joe Nelson said in a release. “We want to build on that by further integrating our programs with an organization that is focused on ocean health and aligned with the interests of shareholders.”
- Marel CEO Arni Oddur Thordarson has resigned effective immediately, citing “personal reasons,” the company announced on 7 November.
Marel, a machinery manufacturing company headquartered in Gardabaer, Iceland, has appointed Arni Sigurdsson as interim CEO. Sigurdsson started with the company in 2014 as its head of strategy, before becoming chief strategy officer, then executive vice president of strategic business units, then chief business officer, and finally deputy CEO.
”It is an honor to lead the great Marel team and to partner with our customers globally. I have worked across our business now for almost a decade and believe we have tremendous potential, technology, people and the ability to transform the way food is processed,” Sigurdsson said in a release. “We have been taking decisive steps to set us up for success and we are on the right track. I look forward to engaging with our dedicated and passionate teams, customers, and wider stakeholders in the coming weeks as we continue on our journey.”
- Robert-Jan Treebus (pictured) has been appointed as the executive vice president of global sales for Nuuk, Greenland-based seafood supplier Royal Greenland.
Treebus brings more than 25 years of experience in commercial functions within the fast-moving consumer goods industry. His most recent role before joining Royal Greenland, was global vice president marketing and sales at Advanced Power Solutions, and prior to that he served as vice president of sales at Glatfelter – a U.S.-based material engineering company.
"I am truly honored to join Royal Greenland, a company with a rich history, a commitment to sustainability, and a passion for delivering exceptional seafood products. I look forward to being a part of this remarkable team and contributing to the company's continued success," Treebus said in a release.
- Thai Union has announced a round of layoffs at its North American division, with at least seven executive positions cut. The company cited its exit from the North Atlantic lobster category as the reason for the layoffs.
“We had to make the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles across our North American operations to reflect changing business demands,” Thai Union told SeafoodSource in a statement. “We are grateful to our former team members for their contributions and are supporting them with a financial package as they transition out of the organization. Out of respect for our former colleagues, we have not and will not identify or discuss the names of any impacted individuals.”
The company also announced in its Q3 2023 results that it will open a new office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to serve as an East Coast hub.
“Chicken of the Sea International (COSI), our shelf-stable division, currently has about 20 employees living in the Pittsburgh area, including Andy Mecs, executive vice president of COSI,” Thai Union said.
- Marie-Anne Omnes has rejoined Seafood Scotland as its head of trade marketing.
Omnes previously worked in marketing for Scottish Development International, and most recently for two and a half years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS).
“After a great couple of years at the USDA office of the U.S. embassy, I am now delighted to be back where I belong, working for the Scottish seafood industry as Head of Trade Marketing for Seafood Scotland,” Omnes wrote on LinkedIn.
- James Sibley has joined Mowi USA as a junior key account manager in its raw materials and trade department.
Sibley is the founder of Sibley Media, a seafood education platform that has more than 400,000 followers and 220 million views on social media.
“With rising demand and legislative doors opening for robust stateside operations, now is the best time for industry leaders like Mowi to expand their presence in the U.S. This, coupled with their incredible U.S.-based team and my firsthand accounts of their innovative and sustainable operations, is why I'm truly ecstatic to join their new Boston RMT team,” Sibley wrote on LinkedIn. “My role as an aquaculture educator through Sibley Media will continue independently, in full. In fact, my position with Mowi will bolster what's possible. Exciting times ahead!
- On 9 November, Linn Anne Bejelland Brunborg was appointed as director of Nofima's aquaculture division.
“Both from my time as a researcher and from my time in the business sector, I know that there are many research results that can contribute to restructuring,” Bejelland Brunborg said in a release. “Nofima has a vision of sustainable food for everyone, and here lies the core of what I want to achieve in my new job: We will contribute to and influence the restructuring that is needed in the food industry. We will contribute to innovations that make it possible.”
Photo courtesy of Sealaska
