Bjorn Apeland — the well-known chief exec of the Steinsvik Group of fish-farm — will be replaced at the start of February 2018 by Martha Kold Bakkevig, a 20-year business-development veteran with leadership savvy, the company announced Tuesday.
“After almost 14 years as an entrepreneur and senior leader in a company that has become a leading company in technology and equipment deliveries to the rapidly expanding aquaculture industry, I now leave it to Martha Kold Bakkevig,” stated Apeland, who will continue as deputy CEO.
Bakkavig said the company will focus on technology development, especially innovations that seek to make the industry more “sustainable”. The new CEO answers in part to the board of Kverva Technology, a company with a controlling stake in Steinsvik Group.
Apeland — who was invited to Ottawa recently for meeting to discuss Canadian aquaculture policy — turned Steinsvik into a leading provider of feeding technology and remote operations equipment. Though Norway-based, Steinsvik has businesses in Scotland, Chile and Canada, amont other locations. The company owns 59.7 percent of the shares in AquaOptima, a supplier of RAS or recirculation aquaculture systems.
