Pedro Courard takes the reins of Atlantic Sapphire

Atlantic Sapphire announced yesterday the appointment of chilean Pedro Courard as its CEO, being one of the many national professionals who have joined the landbased salmon producer.

Courard will assume the position starting August 1, after leaving the general management of Cermaq Chile, marking the conclusion of a very extensive search process over the last half year.

Courard has a successful track record to back him up. He is an Industrial Engineer with a Master in Business Administration. He has been involved in the salmon farming industry in Chile for over 25 years, holding several managerial positions, most related to production and operation.

In the last 15 years, he has held executive positions in different companies: general manager of Ocea Chile (today ScaleAQ), previously regional manager of Invertec (currently Invermar), and later manager of Farming at Multi X. Since 2022, he has been leading the direction of Cermaq Chile.

In fact, at Cermaq Chile, Courard was part of the team that led the successful recovery process of the salmon farming company, positioning the company as one of the highest performing in the national industry, and the second largest in size in the country.

The founder and CEO of Atlantic Sapphire, Johan Andreassen, said "I am very pleased, after a long and exhaustive process, Pedro Courard has been selected as my successor. He has a solid operational track record in the Chilean salmon industry and I'm convinced that he will be a good choice to lead the operations in Miami and take the company to operational excellence in Phase 1 and beyond".

"Atlantic Sapphire's strategic position is stronger than ever today, being the only land-based salmon producer at scale in the vast and growing U.S. market with a unique location, which allows the company to increase its production on an unmatched scale and in a sustainable manner", said the outgoing Andreassen.

Johan Andreassen will remain in the position of CEO until Courard has moved to Florida and will also continue in the company for a subsequent period to ensure a smooth transition.

Pedro Courard commented that "I am extremely excited and honored to have been selected to lead the next steps of the world's largest landbased production project, with all the opportunities and challenges it entails for me personally. I' m convinced that landbased salmon farming has the potential to change the aquaculture industry and solve many of the challenges facing global protein production today".

Kenneth J. Andersen, chairman of the board of directors of Atlantic Sapphire, noted that "I am pleased to welcome Pedro Courard as our new CEO. With his addition, our management team is complete and I believe it is the most experienced in the country. Pedro's experience and leadership will be crucial on our path to operational excellence and profitability in our current operations, as well as laying the groundwork for future growth investments".

To optimally incentivize the new CEO, the Board of Directors wants to grant Courard a package with 1,400,000 stock options, equivalent to approximately 1.25% of the company with a four-year vesting period. This is subject to approval at the next annual general meeting on May 23, 2024.