Atlantic Sapphire’s former chief operating officer and current chief of staff Dharma Rajeswaran announced on Linkedin that he is leaving the company after five years.
Rajeswaran was the company’s COO until March 2021, when the company announced that Bjørn-Vegard Løvik joined the company as the interim chief operating officer. Rajeswaran was then put into an “advisory” role as the chief of staff.
The changes were for “increased efficiency and reliability,” Atlantic Sapphire CEO Johan E. Andreassen said in a filing with Oslo Børs.
“Following a challenging start to 2021 for the company, which has involved operational disturbances and elevated mortality, especially tied to fish movement issues, smolt facility, and the loss of biomass on 23 March, 2021, we are making organizational changes,” he said.
The mass-mortality event saw the company lose 500 metric tons of Atlantic salmon, or roughly 500,000 individual salmon, representing 5 percent of its phase-one harvest volume. That mortality was attributed to a flaw in the design of its recirculating aquaculture system, and Rajeswaran’s title change was announced just a few days later.
“I would like to express my thanks for all the support the business has given me during this time. Being part of Sapphire's success and seeing the company grow into a key market leader in salmon farming is something I feel very proud to have been a part of,” Rajeswaran said in his announcement.
Last week, Atlantic Sapphire announced it had suffered a net loss of USD 51.5 million (EUR 43.81 million) in the first six months of 2021. Its stock value has dropped significantly over the past week, following the company stating it was having issues supplying oxygen to its U.S. RAS farm amidst the state’s battle against COVID-19.
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Sapphire
