– SALT is in new waters and recently opened its first overseas office in the multicultural city of Vancouver on Canada’s west coast, the company writes on its website.

The context for the BC location is that SALT staff member and PhD candidate Guri Hjallen Eriksen is studying how Pacific fisheries are regulated in Canada, compared to Norway.

The aim is to gain new knowledge on how fisheries legislation can facilitate environmental sustainability to a greater extent than today.

Fishing legislation

SALT CEO Kjersti Eline Tønnessen Busch says Hjallen Eriksen is one of the first in Norway to write a doctoral thesis on fisheries law.

– This is a collaboration between SALT and the Oslo Law School. She will be in Vancouver for six months to study Canadian fisheries legislation. We often think that we have a good administrative system in Norway, and we probably do, but there is a lot to learn from other ways of doing things, says Tønessen Busch.

That SALT is now expanding to a new continent – ​​even if only for six months – is something Tønessen Busch finds exciting.

– It’s really fun and cool to get international experience. We have a lot of people on our staff who are foreigners or who studied in other countries, but the fact that we have someone working for SALT in Vancouver is funny. We’ve become an exciting and highly skilled work environment. Many of our employees have PhDs with a background in maritime management, she adds.

Hire more

With Hjallen Eriksen’s doctorate, Tønessen Busch believes that the company is acquiring cutting-edge expertise that is not only of a high international standard, but also rare.

– It is exciting for the new projects at SALT and for what we offer and deliver to our customers. We have another employee who is currently starting her PhD in resource economics. She has her main supervisor in Ålborg and another supervisor in the United States, says Tønessen Busch.

Although the Vancouver, Canada, footprint is only expected to last until the summer, SALT will soon expand again, the CEO believes.

– We are looking for opportunities for permanent establishments internationally. It may take some time, but I don’t think it will be very long in the future, she said.

On Friday, the company hired a new person in Trondheim and in March two new employees will join the Svolvær office.

– We are expanding rapidly. Those who come here in March have an exciting training, she concludes.