Stewart Hawthorn takes over from AKS co-founder Duncan Bates.
An Akaroa King Salmon farm.
Akaroa King Salmon has appointed a new chief executive as its co-founder and CEO retires.
Stewart Hawthorn has relocated back to New Zealand from Stirling in Scotland for the role, where he was managing director of Loch Long Salmon, and start in his role on Monday.
Hawthorn has a long background in seafood and fishing including his own fin fish farming advisory company, Trimara Services, which is based in Scotland.
He was previously managing director of Grieg Seafood BC Ltd – a subsidiary of Norwegian seafood company, Grieg Seafood – and spent 12 years as the general manager of aquaculture for the NZX-listed salmon farming company, NZ King Salmon.
Hawthorn confirmed he would continue as a director and founding shareholder of Loch Long Salmon but would be fully focused on Akaroa Salmon on a day to day basis.
"Closed containment at sea is, in my view, essential for the salmon sector in Scotland. It offers improved fish welfare in the challenging Scottish environment," he told NBR.
Hawthorn said he was excited to be joining the Akaroa team and to continuing his salmon farming journey with an innovative, independent producer of the finest quality salmon.
Akaroa King Salmon chief executive Stewart Hawthorn.
Hawthorn replaces retiring Akaroa King Salmon founding partner and chief executive Duncan Bates.
Bates founded the company with his father Tom Bates in 1985 and will remain on the board.
In 2022, the business was reported to employ 70 people and produce about 700 tonnes of King Salmon annually.
Bates said, "after 40 years building Akaroa King Salmon it was important to me to find the right person to lead Akaroa in the years ahead.
"Stewart, who I have known for more than two decades, was my preferred choice as he brings more than 35 years of farming and salmon business experience to the role.”
The company is New Zealand-owned through a limited partnership that includes Ngāti Porou Seafoods, Te Kahui o Ōnuku, and the founding Bates family.
Akaroa King Salmon chair Dean Moana said, “we are delighted to have attracted a person of Stewart’s calibre to this important role as we seek to build on Duncan’s legacy.”
