Changes at the top for land based salmon farmer

THE land based salmon farming company Salmon Evolution has elected a new chairman from its latest and biggest shareholder, Ronja Capital.

Tore A Tønseth is investment vice president at Ronja Capital, the investment company owned by the Sølvtrans wellboat entrepreneur Roger Halsebakk. Ronja Capital bought a 19.6 per cent share in Salmon Evolution last week.

Tønseth, appointed at Salmon Evolution\’s AGM on March 27, said he would engage strongly in the continued development of ‘a very solid concept’.

The company plans to produce an eventual 36,000 tonnes of salmon a year, using flow-through technology rather than RAS (recirculation aquaculture system).

‘I’m enthusiastic at taking over as chair and to acquiring the opportunity to get involved in the further development of a very good concept, in collaboration with the rest of the board and the management of Salmon Evolution,’ said Tønseth.

‘Kicking off the construction project and further financing of this stage represent one of the big milestones in the time ahead.’

Land based fish farming will play a key role in the future, he said, adding that Salmon Evolution has ‘a unique approach to such production, and we believe it has a clearly lower risk profile than many other projects’.

The organisation building and part-financing of the first construction stage has now been completed, and the company said it is now gearing up to meet its next challenges.

In other changes, CFO Håkon Andrè Berg has been made acting CEO after Odd Tore Finnøy – who led the company up to the start of construction – opted to resign in consultation with the board. The former chair, Kristofer Reiten, was elected to serve as a director.