Dominik Flatten, who had his first day in June, is the newest member on the team. He is going to work with projects related to sustainability here at NCE Seafood Innovation. To get to know him better, we challenged him to answer five questions.

Who is Dominik?

I am a 29-year-old German “Bergenser”. Ten years ago, I started my career in hospitality management which gave me the possibility to study and work in different places in Germany, Portugal, England, and Hong Kong before I moved to Bergen in 2018, fell in love with the city, and decided to stay. Given my genuine interest in food, a visit at the Bergen Aquarium shortly after my arrival on a typically rainy Bergen summer day drew my attention to the aquaculture industry and awoke my enthusiasm. One master thesis later, I started my aquaculture career at Grieg Seafood in 2019. After three years at Grieg Seafood, where I was given the opportunity to leverage the company’s sustainability reporting and gather lots of practical experience, I am looking forward to getting to know the industry even better in my position as the new Project Manager – Sustainability.

What is your role in the NCE Seafood Innovation Team?

My role will be helping our members, partners, and the rest of the industry to collaborate on a diverse range of sustainability projects. Similar to the situation three years ago, I am so lucky to start in a newly created position and to be presented with a quite empty playground to be filled. We already have some project ideas in mind, but feel free to reach out if you have any exciting projects which require collaboration with other industry partners or for which you are missing resources. I am happy to facilitate!

– In addition, I aim for establishing a broad understanding of sustainability-related problems, possible solutions and their prerequisites along the entire supply chain, especially on the fish farms. During the pandemic, sustainability reporting has taken on a more strategic role than ever before, in particular in the head offices of the “reporting spearheads”, the leading salmon farmers. However, if we want to turn aquaculture into a truly sustainable industry, we also need to impart sustainability knowledge and understanding at the farm level and amongst the smaller players with fewer head office resources. In this regard, I hope and think that NCE Seafood Innovation can play a vital role.

What are you most looking forward to in your position as Project Manager – Sustainability, and what have you done so far?

– In my previous position, I had to realize that many sustainability-related problems are difficult to impossible to solve at the single company-level only. Contributing to solve the industry’s challenges through collaboration in joint projects together with our partners, members, and major parts of the Norwegian seafood industry is what I am really looking forward to.

– Given that my position is a new position, my first days at NCE Seafood Innovation were marked by screening current and potential projects and identify sustainability-related problems and tasks. In addition, I am exploring the new environment at Marineholmen and I am looking forward to getting to know my new colleagues at our team tour before the summer break. The Annual partners and members meeting was a great first occasion to get to know some of the many dedicated and capable seafood people making up our cluster.

Describe yourself in three words?

– Genuine, enthusiastic, ambitious.

If you had one more hour each day, what would you do?

– Phew! So much to choose from. Hiking, cooking, singing, jamming, running, football, tennis, reading, board games, volleyball, tenting, fishing, etc. Don’t be afraid I would get bored with one more hour a day.

It all sounds promising! We are very excited to see what projects and activities Dominik will pursue here at NCE Seafood Innovation. Already curious? Get in touch with him at Dominik@Seafoodinnovation.No.