"Ode is an incredibly exciting company," said the company's new ESG Manager.
Attribution: Photo: Johanne Kjerstad LinkedIn profile.
The beginning of May marked Johanne Kjerstad's start in the office as Ode's new ESG Manager. The executive is one of the "several new colleagues across the value chain" the company referred to in a post on its LinkedIn page this week; specifically, she is one of the latest additions to the team at the cod farmer headquarters.
"We're building the future of seafood, and that starts with great people!" Ode's post said. "From biology and technology to operations, production and commercial roles, every new team member brings valuable expertise to the company," it continued.
In the case of Johanne Kjerstad, she joins from the position of Sustainability Advisor at Doxacom. This consultancy, with decades of experience in the maritime and fishing sectors, offers business development and strategic communication services to build the sustainability reputation of its clients and partners.
Previously, she was Advisor for the Professional Development of Strategic Initiatives in Oceans, Energy, and Sustainability at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where her responsibilities included, among other things, working on collaborative projects funded through the Research Council of Norway (NFR), Regional Research Funds (RFF), and the European Union.
Adding to the experience that Ode's new EGS Manager brings to the table is her education—she has both Bachelor's degrees in Marketing and Management, and also in Economics, as well as a Master of Science, International Environmental Studies from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).
"Sometimes opportunities come along that you simply can't turn down," Johanne Kjerstad wrote in a post published on her LinkedIn profile in which she said that on Monday, May 4, she had her first day at work at the Norwegian cod farming company.
"Ode is an incredibly exciting company with talented people, a fast pace, and strong growth, delivering healthy, sustainable (and very delicious!) farmed cod," she added.
As Ode's CEO, Ola Kvalheim, explained some time ago in an interview with WeAreAquaculture, the Norwegian company is determined to create a new culture around farmed cod, and, to this end, the company has been recruiting executives from diverse sectors.
The arrival of the new EGS Manager coincides with that of the new CTO, Frode Norman Vatne, who, after leading Pelagia's digital transformation for nearly a decade, joined Ode on May 1st.
The cod farming company, which ended 2025 as Norway's largest single supplier of cod, started 2026 with the acquisition of three more sites in Vestland and a juvenile cod producer in Møre og Romsdal. This very week, it announced that after the summer, it will take over operations and staff at Mowi's cleaner fish facility in Sighaug, also in Møre og Romsdal county, to convert it to juvenile and broodstock cod production.