Courtesy / LinkedIn
Marianne Naess
Updated: July 6, 2022
Amid plans for Belfast salmon facility, Nordic Aquafarms changes leadership
PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY
Erik Heim, founder of Nordic Aquafarms, has stepped down as the company’s CEO. He’s seen here in his Portland office.
Nordic Aquafarms, the Norwegian company planning a large land-based salmon farm in Belfast, has abruptly changed leadership of its U.S. operations.
Brenda Chandler, a Mainer who has served as chief financial officer of the subsidiary for the past three and a half years, will step in for CEO Erik Heim on an interim basis.
Chandler assumed her new position over the weekend and will split her time between Humboldt, Calif., and the Nordic corporate office in Portland, according to a news release.
Founder steps down
On his LinkedIn page, Heim said he and Executive Vice President Marianne Naess left the business last week. Heim is Nordic’s founder and is married to Naess.
“It has been eight years since I founded the beginning of Nordic Aquafarms in our living room in Norway — a company to become one of the most profiled RAS [recirculating aquaculture system] companies in the world,” Heim wrote. “We were a pioneer in Norway on commercial salmon RAS.”
Heim moved from Norway to Maine in 2018 to head up the company’s development of a large, land-based salmon farm in Belfast and a similar project in California.
In his post, Heim wrote, Nordic “is the only RAS player with a strong position on both U.S. coastlines.”
The company’s salmon project in Maine was fully permitted in 2021 and is now ready for next steps, he wrote.
“Naess did what many said was impossible — in the past three years she led the effort to create a strong foundation for larger-scale aquaculture in California,” he continued.
The company has key permit applications coming up this summer for the California project.
“I am confident that we are only in early beginnings as far as the potential for aquaculture in the U.S.,” he said. “But there are also challenges to address and much work left to make that a reality.”
Heim said his commitment to the industry in the U.S. will continue but that he will take a summer vacation for now.
“After that, it is time for new challenges,” he wrote.
Heim and Naess left the company “to pursue other opportunities,” according to Nordic.
Heim was born in the U.S. and holds dual Norwegian and U.S. citizenship. Nordic’s Maine offices are in Belfast and Portland.
In January 2018, Nordic Aquafarms Inc., a 100%-owned subsidiary of Nordic Aquafarms Group AS in Norway, announced plans for a land-based salmon farm in Belfast, to be built in two phases. At full build-out the Belfast facility is expected have an annual salmon production capacity of 30,000 metric tons, or 66 million pounds, along with hatcheries and fish processing facilities.
Land-based production is a rapidly emerging method for salmon production, based on large indoor tanks and water treatment systems.
Nordic’s total capital investment for the Belfast operation has been estimated to be between $450 million and $500 million. Permits have been secured for the Maine project and the permitting process is underway in California.
Bernt Olav Rottingsnes, the CEO and chairman of the board for the parent company, will continue to serve as chairman of Nordic Aquafarms Inc.
The remainder of the U.S. company’s leadership and staff in Maine and California remain unchanged.
Interim CEO
Chandler is a Maine native with family roots in Belfast and Jonesport, according to the release.
Courtesy / Nordic Aquafarms
Brenda Chandler
She joined Nordic Aquafarms as chief financial officer in March 2019 after a career in the technology and paper sectors. Her experience includes treasury, risk management, finance, accounting and real estate. Chandler holds a bachelor's degree and associate degree from the University of Maine at Augusta.
Chandler “has served as key counsel in our permitting and project planning efforts to date,” Rottingsnes said.
Courtesy / Nordic Aquafarms
A rendering of the Belfast production site.
Chandler said the company’s segments in Maine, California, Norway and Denmark have been working together to develop operations in the respective regions.
Project planning
Nordic Aquafarms Inc. was awarded all permits for the Belfast project in 2021 from state, local and federal agencies allowing them to continue development of the 56-acre site.
Nordic exercised the purchase option for the property, from seller Belfast Water District, in February. At that time, the company said it was “not rushing to construction. There is a thorough job to be completed in engineering and final planning before construction.”
The company is engaged in project planning with detailed design and pursuit of building permits upcoming. A similar project is underway in Samoa, Calif., where the company is pursuing permits.
The goal is to deliver salmon to major populations on the East and West coasts.
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