Late last week the municipality of Bergen Hoyre in western Norway, home to many Norwegian seafood companies, released its electoral list for the 2023 Norwegian local elections.
The list is topped by conservative politician Christine Meyer and CEO of the Bergen Chamber of Commerce Marit Warncke.
In third place is a former employee of salmon farmer Mowi, Eivind Naevdal-Bolstad, ex-communications manager at the company, now on leave to work as a full-time politician.
However, a long way down the list, almost at the very bottom, we find another name familiar to IntraFish: in 69th place is Ivan Vindheim, the current CEO of Mowi - the world's largest salmon company.
Spectator place
Vindheim confirmed to IntraFish that he agreed to stand for election.
"I think that representation in politics from business is far too poor," he said.
"When I got a phone call asking if I was willing to be on the list, I realized that I myself now get to contribute to doing something about it, and put myself forward."
Vindheim refers to his location almost at the bottom as a "spectator's place," adding he has very little chance of election. If, however, against the odds, he were to be elected, he said he would serve his time.
He said his sudden interest in politics has nothing to do with the ongoing debate on the ground rent tax proposed in September by the Norwegian government, a move that has sparked uproar from many working in the aquaculture sector, including Vinheim himself.
"This is only justified by the fact that I believe that the representation of business in Norwegian politics is far too poor," said Vindheim.
