Cooke Aquaculture named Pal Angell-Hansen, a senior executive with Cooke, interim chairman at Icicle Seafoods, after Chris Ruettgers resigned as CEO.
New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke bought Icicle, including its three business units overseeing production of wild salmon and groundfish in Alaska and farmed Atlantic salmon in Washington State, in June 2016 for an undisclosed sum. At the time of the sale, Ruettgers said he was “excited about the opportunity to join Cooke,” but he resigned this week, according to Cooke Aquaculture CEO Glenn Cooke.
“Chris has provided valuable leadership to Icicle from the time he started through the sale and acquisition process leading up to Cooke’s purchase of the company in June, 2016. After leading Icicle through the subsequent transition period, Chris made the personal decision to pursue other career opportunities,” Glenn Cooke said in a statement.
Ruettgers had been with Icicle for seven years.
Angell-Hansen will take over the interim chairman role at Seattle, Washington-based Icicle, starting 13 February. Angell-Hansen is the COO of Farming at Cooke Aquaculture, according to his LinkedIn page, and according to Bloomberg, he has previously served as been the global head of farming of Morpol S.A. and the CFO of Marine Farms ASA.
“Mr. Angell-Hansen will continue to provide oversight to Cooke’s European operations. We appreciate the strong and experienced management team in the Seattle office and know they will provide critical support to Mr. Angell-Hansen and the Cooke management team as we invest in and further develop the business,” Cooke said.
Meanwhile, it is “business as usual” for Icicle’s colleagues and customers, “who should continue to expect a high level of service and world-class seafood products as we implement the new leadership structure,” Cooke said.
