Advertisement

Company behind Northern Harvest Sea Farms gets new CEO

A week after he apologized to the Newfoundland and Labrador government for a mass salmon die-off attributed to warm water, the CEO of Norwegian aquaculture giant Mowi has stepped down.

However, the company said Alf-Helge Aarskog informed the board six months ago of his intention to step down as CEO, and is not leaving because of the die-off.

"It is not at all related with the incidents in NL," a Mowi spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. Aarskog was in the position for 10 years.

Northern Harvest Sea Farms, which is owned by Mowi, recorded a 2.6 million salmon die-off on Newfoundland's south coast in September.

We did not live up to both your, and our own expectations," Aarskog wrote in a letter to Premier Dwight Ball and Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne last week.

Mowi.com
Mowi.com

"For this, I personally and sincerely apologize as CEO and on behalf of Mowi ASA."

The company outlined six things it's doing to prevent other occurrences, including increasing the depth of its nets so that fish can escape warm water and putting together what it says is a better plan to deal with a large number of deaths so that a cleanup can done more quickly.

Ivan Vindheim, who served as the aquaculture's CFO since 2012, has taken on the top position.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador