West Coast Salmon is excited to announce that Morten Nielsen has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of the company.
Morten is Danish citizen with MSc in in Biotechnology/Aquaculture (Engineering) and one of the world’s leading capacities on RAS based aquaculture. Through Aquatec Solution (DK), he has been in charge for designing/developing and delivering numerous land-based smolt facilities for clients in the salmon farming industry. The company was sold to AKVA Group in 2015 and he has been managing the landbased activities there since 2016.
Henrik Krefting, CEO of WCS, comments: “This is a very important milestone for West Coast Salmon. Morten left AKVA Group in December 2020, and we are proud and excited to have secured his commitment. He brings unique land-based aquaculture expertise and project execution management experience, as well as a combination of entrepreneurial and corporate approach. With Morten on board, we look forward to executing our plan – in partnership with the company’s new strong owners – to achieve our goal of becoming the leading US West Coast provider of high quality sustainably raised Atlantic salmon.”
Morten, who will formally take on the COO position March 1, 2021 comments: “I am excited to get the opportunity to be a part of a very skilled and focused team, and look forward to contribute to realizing this very important project.”
About West Coast Salmon:
Norway based West Coast Salmon AS, along with its US operating subsidiaries, plan to build and operate an industrial scale land-based Atlantic salmon operation outside of Reno, Nevada. The first phase will deliver 12.600 tonnes of production capacity (HOG1 , per annum “steady state”) in the second half of 2024, serving fresh and sustainably raised Atlantic salmon to health and environmentally conscious US West Coast consumers.
The company’s business plan consists of three development phases for up to a total of around 50.000 tonnes HOG production. Significant land acreage for expansion, close to infrastructure (electric grid and highway), with associated permitted freshwater rights, are owned by WCS. The salmon farming operation will be based on the latest recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology from AquaMaof, a state-of-the-art processing facility at site, as well as specialized RAS feed from Skretting, Nutreco’s aquaculture division.
The facility’s proximity to major markets will ensure a continuous local supply of a high quality, fresh and environmentally sustainable product that has longer shelf life and significantly reduced CO2 footprint than conventionally farmed salmon transported by air from Chile and Europe. In addition, the company’s ESG commitment will be further demonstrated by primarily sourcing renewable energy and reutilizing outputs from the
operation as valued by-products.
WCS announced in October 2020 that it has secured first stage equity financing with lead anchor investors Bregal Partners and Nutreco N.V. In addition, Beach Point Capital Management, AquaMaof, founders, management and select financial investors participated in the private placement.
Contact info.: hk@westcoastsalmon.no