From Harvest Manager to General Manager of Processing

–David settling into the role –

Over the past 16 years working at Huon, David Morehead has arguably held a very diverse range of roles. He started as Harvest Manager in 2005, jumped to Customer Service and Logistics Manager, then held a Business Development role, General Manager of Projects, as well as General Manager of Marine Operations and now, David has been promoted into the long-vacant role of General Manager of Processing.

“My first role with Huon was as Harvest Manager operating out of Hideaway Bay. During the two years I spent in this position my focus was on improving fish quality and working on ways to improve the cool-chain, reduce gaping and bloodspots and extending the time into rigor to allow pre-rigor gutting and then filleting,” said David. One achievement during this period was changing the specification from HOGG (head on gilled and gutted) to HOG (head on and gutted), by undertaking trials that allowed for the retaining of gills within the fish as a sign of freshness, which was subsequently adopted by the rest of industry. –“In 2007, I took on the role of Customer Service and Logistics Manager, where I worked on a restructure of the Customer Service team, with a move to a new premises in Hobart, streamlining the management of harvests to customer orders and managing all domestic and export freight with Toll, DHL and other companies.” –

David has also been involved in sighting and developing business plans for Parramatta Creek, designing components for offshore farming, developing the Aquaculture Hub in Strahan and a Freshwater Bathing Scheme in the South East.

While moving from General Manager of Marine Operations into General Manager of Processing may seem like an unusual move on paper, David's past experience places him in good stead.

–“It is an exciting challenge to be taking on the position of General Manager of Processing and I look forward to working with the team.” –

“Having only just started, there’s a lot I need to better understand, but I think everyone’s focus has and will continue to be about removing bottlenecks, ensuring compliance across all areas, better understanding yields, and employee staffing and development.” David also plans on having stronger systems in place to track product (including all waste streams) and report on the cost of production. “We will also focus on removing polystyrene boxes wherever possible which has been a key sustainability goal of the company for some time.”

–David cannot state strongly enough how well the processing team have managed during the past few years of unprecedented growth and staffing changes. –

“The team managing processing throughout this time have done a fantastic job and with the company now entering what should be a steadier period of controlled growth, we need to review how we are doing, with the aim to streamline operations and reduce costs where we can.”

–David leading the 2017 Salmon Symposium tour –