After Johan Andreassen's decision to step down as CEO, there are more changes to Atlantic Sapphire's executive management to adapt to the industrial phase the company is heading. The land-based salmon producer has announced the appointment of Mario Palma as its new Chief Operating Officer. Palma, who joined the company in 2017, currently serves as Aquaculture Engineering Director.
In fact, this is the second promotion for him within the company since, prior to his current position, Mario Palma was Aquaculture Director for 4 years, the first in Production Management in Langsand laks in Denmark, and the other three as Head of Aquaculture already in Homestead, Florida, where, as highlighted by the company in its announcement, he has been since the beginning of the project.
"In addition to eight years of RAS experience from companies such as Mowi prior to joining Atlantic Sapphire in 2017, Mr. Palma has been a part of the US project since day one, and brings 14 years of technical and operational experience on how to manage the facility in a structured way as the Company moves on to an industrial phase," says the release.
"The Board of Directors is pleased that Mr. Palma has accepted this position and will assume the position immediately," it continues. In the announcement, Atlantic Sapphire also said that his predecessor, Jon-Birger Løvik, will remain with the company in a different role.
Promoting employees to the COO position seems to be a hallmark of Atlantic Sapphire as Løvik's was also effectively an internal promotion. Prior to taking the position, he had been working at Atlantic Sapphire as Director of Aqua Technology and Deputy COO from March 2021.
Atlantic Sapphire ASA is a Norway-based aquaculture company. The company breeds Bluehouse® (land-raised) salmon farming locally with the aim of transforming protein production globally. Atlantic Sapphire has a focus on Research and Development (R&D) and innovation to equip the company with the technology and procedures that enable the company to commercially scale up production in end markets close to the consumer.
In the USA, the Company operates just south of Miami, in Homestead, Florida. It has the capacity to harvest approximately 10,000 tons (HOG) of salmon annually. In its Phase 2 expansion, Atlantic Sapphire aims to bring total annual production capacity to 25,000 tons and has a targeted harvest volume in 2031 of 220,000 tons.