The current president of Chile’s Salmon Industry Association has announced he will not pursue a third two-year term, and is apparently headed to the board of directors of Camanchaca, ahead of a public listing.
SalmonChile’s Felipe Sandoval, who has held the role of president for four years, announced his decision at the association’s general assembly on 14 November in Puerto Varas, according to local business publication Economia y Negocios. His current term will end in December of this year.
The board of directors of the association will be tasked with finding Sandoval’s successor and present their decision in December. Although not official, the report speculated that a frontrunner would be Arturo Clément Diaz, the former general manager of Salmon farmer Multiexport and the founder of SalmonEx and DataSalmon.
Sandoval told the assembly that his departure marks “an end of a cycle” and that it is time for a renewal of the industry association. During his tenure, Sandoval saw the industry through difficult situations, including the 2016 algae bloom, which led to the loss of 90,000 tons of farmed Atlantic salmon in Southern Chile. The crisis led to accusations that the salmon industry was at fault, which SalmonChile rejected.
Sandoval also led the development and delivery of the industry’s first sustainability reports, the most recent and second installment was published in September 2017. The reports credited Sandoval with improving relations between the industry and Chile’s coastal communities.
Soon after announcing his decision to leave SalmonChile, Sandoval, along with Tore Valerhaug, the former financial director of Norway’s Cermaq Group, were named to Camanchaca’s board of directors, according to Economia y Negocios.
Camanchaca’s recruitment of Sandoval and Valerhaug comes as the company prepares its public listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The report cited a filing with Chile’s securities regulator SVS, although the official listing of the company’s directors does not yet show a change in the board of directors.
