Oslo, Norway-headquartered salmon producer Cermaq has named Pedro Courard as managing director of its Chilean operations as of 1 March in replacement of Steven Rafferty, who will take over as CEO of the Cermaq Group.
Rafferty, in turn, will replace the current CEO, Geir Molvik, who announced last October that he is stepping down but will continue to be available to the company in an advisory role.
“I am pleased to announce that Pedro Courard will be the new general manager of Cermaq Chile as of March. Pedro is definitely the right person for this challenge, with his extensive knowledge of the industry and he has given an immense contribution to the teamwork of the management team and staff, and leading the production area thanks to his excellent management and planning skills. He will have my full support, and that of the Cermaq Group, to continue consolidating and improving Cermaq Chile,” Rafferty said in a release.
With more than 20 years of experience in the salmon industry, Courard is currently the production director of Cermaq Chile. He is a trained industrial civil engineer with a degree the University of Chile and has an MBA from Tulane University, according to his LinkedIn profile, He previous served as farming manager at Multi X for three years, managing partner at EPSA for five months, general manager at Ocea Chile for more than four years, and zone manager at Invertec for 12 years.
“I am very happy to take on this challenge in a company like Cermaq, a leader in the industry both nationally and globally. My intention is to continue the work started by Steven, which has allowed us to improve our results in all aspects,” Courard said.
Cermaq is one of the world's leading companies in salmon and trout farming, with operations in Norway, Chile, and Canada. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi.
