To keep up to date with the latest personnel changes across the seafood industry, SeafoodSource is compiling a regular round-up of hiring announcements and other personnel-related shifts worldwide. If you have an announcement, please send it to [email protected].
- Oslo, Norway-based nonprofit TMT, which provides fisheries authorities and relevant international organizations with fisheries intelligence, analysis, and capacity-building services, has hired Gareth Johnstone as its new executive director, effective 1 July.
“His exceptional leadership skills, strategic insights, proven track record of driving organization and sector growth and innovation, and broad exposure to transdisciplinary sustainable development issues made him the ideal choice to lead TMT,” TMT Co-Founder and Chair said in a release. “His strong commitment to trust, transparency, collaboration and impact aligns perfectly with the TMT core values, making him an excellent cultural fit for our organization. We have great confidence in his ability to steer TMT toward a new chapter of success.”
Johnstone has worked in fisheries management roles for nearly 30 years, most recently serving as the vice chair of the U.K. Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs’ OCEAN Expert Committee. He also held the director general role at nonprofit Worldfish from 2017 to 2021. He replaces Duncan Copeland, who served as TMT executive director for over a decade.
“I am honored and excited about the opportunity that I have been given to lead such a unique impact-driven organization like TMT,” Johnstone said. “The complex social, economic, and environmental threats that illegal fishing and associated crimes pose on ocean-based communities, global food and nutrition security, climate change, human rights, blue economy, and the sustainable governance of our ocean make it a challenge of the utmost importance.”
- Larry Feinberg has resigned as CEO of Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based biotechnology research firm KnipBio, which he co-founded.
“This decision comes as a natural progression in our journey,” Feinberg said on LinkedIn. “Looking back, I am incredibly proud of the milestones we have achieved together, building something pretty awesome with some incredibly talented individuals.”
Founded in 2013, KnipBio has created an alternative protein source for aquafeed. Caitlin Wege has taken over as CEO of the firm after recently joining the KnipBio team and brings with her a background in the pharmaceutical and medical industries.
- Danish seafood company Espersen has appointed Morten Hansen as the managing director of its subsidiary in Vietnam. Hansen will be based out of Ho Chi Minh City and will oversee the company’s production facility there.
“I have been deeply touched by the warm and generous welcome from my new colleagues at Espersen, and I am eager to contribute to our collective efforts to advance Espersen’s legacy and elevate the company to new heights,” Hansen said in a LinkedIn post. “I am truly blessed to continue working in the nutrition sector, now expanding my knowledge to fish processing and consumption – a crucial protein source for the future.”
Hansen has held several global consultancy and management roles, including as a management consultant at humanitarian relief organization GC Rieber Compact.
- Benchmark Genetics Chile has appointed Juan Pablo Ramírez Torrealba as its new general manager, replacing Berta Contreras Mutis, who was in the role for less than a year.
Torrealba most recently served as farming manager at Chilean salmon-farming firm Yadran but has worked in the fish-farming sector for over 13 years in various capacities.
“I am very excited to join an international leader like Benchmark, renowned for producing Atlantic salmon eggs globally,” Torrealba said. “I believe there is still significant potential in Chile to share the excellent results we achieve with our quality products, strong performance, and high biosafety standards.”
- The International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), a London, U.K.-based charity that aims to develop, support, and promote socially and environmentally responsible tuna fisheries, has appointed Jamie Briscoe as its new Indonesia program lead.
“We are excited about welcoming Jamie to the IPNLF team and believe her experience in the region and philanthropic sector will help in further developing our presence and impact in Indonesia as well as the broader Southeast Asia region,” IPNLF Fisheries Director Craig Turley said in a release.
Briscoe worked for three years as a program associate at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s Indonesia Ocean Initiative.
“[I am] confident that [Jamie] will play a significant role in supporting IPNLF's continuous initiatives in addressing climate change, reducing carbon emissions, and integrating new technologies and innovation into small-scale fisheries in Indonesia,” IPNLF Managing Director Martin Purves said.
Briscoe will play a significant part in the NGO's formulation of its next five-year strategic plan, Purves said. The group’s current plan, which has focused on the pillars of fisheries support, business development, marketing and communications, financial management, and good governance to promote sustainable development through ocean conservation and strengthen the ability of small-scale fishers to conserve biodiversity, build climate resilience, and alleviate poverty, expires in 2025.
- Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based seafood company American Seafoods has hired Shusuke Yatera as the president of the company’s Japan division.
“Yatera is a proven leader in the Japanese surimi markets and Southeast Asia more broadly, and we look forward to his invaluable contributions at American Seafoods as we further expand in Japan,” American Seafoods CEO Einar Gustafsson said in a release. “Leveraging his know-how in the region’s surimi market and experience trading sustainable food, Yatera will help propel American Seafoods through our next chapter of growth in Japan and Southeast Asia. American Seafoods is committed to Japan – a critical market for us – and we are eager to support our Japanese customers and cement stronger relationships with our long-term partners.”
Yatera, who previously worked at Tokai Denpu,n driving sales initiatives and importing surimi from North American to Southeast Asia and other markets, is replacing George Uyeno in the role, who is retiring after 25 years with American Seafoods.
“American Seafoods is the leading provider of sustainable seafood products to Southeast Asia, and I look forward to accelerating our growth in Japan,” Yatera said. “I am deeply passionate about elevating the value and importance of Alaska’s seafood industry and am excited to deliver sustainable, affordable, and healthy protein products at scale.”
- Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based seafood importing and wholesale business International Seafood Ventures announced that Gerry Brajcich has become the firm’s new vice president of sales and marketing.
Brajcich was previously the company’s director of business development before accepting the new role in early July.
This move follows the death of Dennis Laporte, who retired as the firm’s vice president of sales and purchasing in April and passed away just a few months later in June.
- The Norwegian Centers of Expertise (NCE) Aquatech Cluster, which promotes the knowledge sharing of technological and sustainability strategies among its members, has appointed Ellie Johansen as its new manager, replacing Kristian Henriksen, who had served as the cluster’s manager since its inception in 2015.
"After nine wonderful years, this was a good time to pass on the baton,” Henriksen said in a release. “When Ellie agreed to take over as manager, I knew that the cluster would be put in the best hands.”
The NCE Aquatech Cluster said Johansen has been central to several cluster projects for nearly a decade and has deep experience advancing the goals of the organization. Previously, Johansen served nearly six years as senior manager at Norwegian auditing and advisory firm BDO Norge.
“With a large number of ongoing research and innovation projects, several international market collaboration opportunities, strong professional networks, and, not least, a fantastic team, I am very much looking forward to continuing the good work Kristian and the team have put in,” Johansen said. “So, there are big shoes to fill, but I look forward to the challenge and am very motivated to contribute to leading the cluster.”
