Bjørn-Erik Stabell will begin his new role on 1 September 2025.
Photo: Norwegian Seafood Council.
The Norwegian Seafood Council has announced it has appointed a new "seafood envoy" for the UK.
Bjørn-Erik Stabell will begin in his new role as UK Director on 1 September, taking over from Victoria Braathen, who has led the Seafood Council's work in the UK since 2022, and who will return to the organisation's head office in Norway.
A former seafood envoy to Spain, Stabell has held a number of roles within the Norwegian seafood marketing organisation. He is currently Strategy and Sustainability Manager at the Norwegian seafood marketing organisation, and is also Key Account Manager for whitefish.
"The UK is a very important market for Norwegian seafood. Together with my local colleague Bojana, my good colleagues at the Seafood Council in Tromsø and the Norwegian exporters, I am looking forward to embarking on such an exciting assignment as this. It will be fun to create something together with strong and skilled players in both Norway and the UK," Stabell said, in a Norwegian language press announcement.
"I am following in the footsteps of rock-solid predecessors, who have had a similar role in the last three periods. We can really build on this good foundation from the autumn onwards. However, until I take office, my current role is full steam ahead, with a focus on sustainability and implementing the new strategy for whitefish," he added.
Director of Global Operations at the Norwegian Seafood Council, Børge Grønbech, said Stabell was selected for his "strong background, and very relevant experience for the work we will be doing in the UK going forward", including his experience with whitefish, sustainability, and previous overseas experience in Spain.
The Council also confirmed it has appointed new seafood envoys to both Germany and Portugal, although the names will not be announced until later in April.
The new envoy in Germany will take office on 1 June, replacing outgoing representative Kristin Pettersen, while in Portugal the new envoy will begin work on 1 August, taking over the role from Trond Rismo.
