Patra Greece 10 March 2014
Dear Mr Thor Arne Hangstad
I would like first of all to introduce myself in a few words .
I have worked as a professional diver, near 15 years in fish farming in Greece. My intent was to
provide the best and innovative services for all the topics under water. Central point of my intent
was the convergence of accounting and actual stocks (number of fish).
I have higher education in physics. I think that I have broad technical expertise, ability to motivate
and keep progressing through a united team and self motivation and problem solving abilities.
I have a special relation with the environment so I am interested about sustainable aquaculture.
The next thing is how I learned about Akvaplan Niva and how the things goes in Greece, in
a few words.
In Greece, there are three big companies which are in a liquidity crisis, since the Hellenic Financial
Stability Fund is already a shareholder in DIAS AQUACULTURE S.A.. and SELONDA AQUACULTURE S.A. From the other side NIREUS S.A. was unable to pass the installment of the bond on 13 Jan14 a year and a half later as he requested (the Banks gave permutation of interest payments initially
for 31 Jan14, after for 28 Feb14 and then for 31 Mar14)
NIREUS S.A
.http://www.helex.gr/web/guest/company-announcements2/-/select-company/266
For the first time in Greece, the situation brought three companies in the same industry with three
administrations and a foreign controller.
Banks had been signed with companies to restructure their loans, a Memorandum of Understanding. Banks following the M.O.U., called Norwegian company "AkvaPlan Niva", to compare the accounts with the actual stocks in cages, in cooperation with the companies themselves and following international practices.
A press 11 Feb14: "According to unconfirmed information, the control valuation charges, in some
cases, differences in the range of 20% - 50%. "The figures on paper have nothing to do with reality
in some local units. Other quantities write in reserve, others are in cages", says bank executive
who closely follow developments in the field of aquaculture.”
http://www.euro2day.gr/news/enterprises/article/1182681/psahnoyn-ta-psaria-sta-kloyvia.html
(there is no English translation available, you can try with google translator if you wish)
The Greeck Exchange Commission addressed a question to the three companies for the press and the three companies with releases confirmed the census. The companies said they did not have the final report in their knowledge, but according to the information there are no significant differences.
http://www.helex.gr/web/guest/company-announcements2/-/select-company/266 Reply to a question from the Capital Market Commission 12 Feb 2014 NIREUS SA
http://www.helex.gr/web/guest/company-announcements2/-/select-company/257 Reply to a question from the Capital Market Commission 13 Feb 2014 SELODA SA (there is no English
translation available, you can try with google translator if you wish)
http://www.helex.gr/el/web/guest/company-announcements2/-/select-company/892 Reply to a question from the Capital Market Commission 12 Feb 2014 DIAS SA (there is no English
translation available, you can try with google translator if you wish)
A press 5 Mar 14: Extraordinary meeting with key issue finding a solution for the aquaculture
industry to be held next Tuesday 11 Mar 14 at the Ministry of Development.
In broad meeting are invited to participate, in addition to the representatives of three major
industry, ie Nereus, Selonda and Dias, the representatives of the four systemic banks and
executives from the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund.
http://www.euro2day.gr/news/economy/article/1190406/ihthyokalliergeies-ektakth-syskepsh-stoypan- thn.html (there is no English translation available, you can try with google translator if you
wish)
At this point please allow me a placement
An evaluation criteria for managers in producing fish is the convergence of accounting and actual stocks (number of fish and average weight per cage)
The accuracy of the stocks in each cage is directly related to the reliability of the management, of
any company in the fish production.
Important for the evaluation of managers is not the overall number of stocks.
Important for the evaluation of managers is in which percentage of the cages in all controlled, the accounting value deviates severely from the actual, (the number of fish and average weight,).
It is obvious that the managers know (or should know) through daily catching, the deviation in number of fish and average weight, for each cage which ends.
My proposal to Akvaplan Niva (if it is permitted)
If you want the health and viability of the industry you must require continuous monitoring of the convergence of accounting and actual stocks (number of fish and average weight per cage).
Checks accountants were inadequate so far, because they just do not know, how to count fish.
In Greece first time have been counted fish from the Akvaplan niva and this should continue on a permanent basis either by the same company or by Greeks auditors who will be trained and certified for this purpose.
Checks can be random and involve measurement of fish and average weight, at any random cage, catch monitoring, or vaccinations.
The data of the controls, namely the percentage deviation of accounting against actual stocks, should be published periodically, whenever each company provides information on livestock capital (Financial Statement), in the stock market or the state.
The acceptable percentage deviation will be determined by the data flow itself or international standard, if any.
Hellenic Financial Stability Fund executives need just now, evaluation criteria for managers in producing fish and maybe new managers
If so needed, is Akvaplan niva efficient to undertake the management of so big companies as the Greek aquaculture?
A question for you
As expertize in aquaculture management, are you accepted the convergence of accounting and actual stocks (number of fish and average weight per cage) as an evaluation criteria for managers in producing fish?
A proposal for cooperation
I would like to ask for a cooperation with Akvaplan niva as a production supervisor or technical support for Greek matters (if you have any).
If you are interested for a cooperation please make me aware to prepare my C.V. for you
Dear Mr Thor
I hope that you have the time needed to spend for this letter and you take a look to the Greek
Aquaculture (If you are not aware)
I would appreciate If I have an answer to the question being raised
I would appreciate the investigating of the possibility of cooperation
I shall try to substantiate my placement in the Annex
Thanks in advance
Dimitrios Pettas
Annex
A further investigation if an evaluation criteria for managers in producing fish is the convergence of accounting and actual stocks (number of fish and average weight per cage)
Virtual data management for virtual enterprises
It is obvious that companies are dynamic entities and I am absent from the production for more than a year
so even the company that I was working for, can be very different today, from the company that it was a year ago.
Therefore, what is mentioned of the following is an intellectual exercise with data from the past and the
future.
Please allow me a little and smiling approach, to virtual management elements, if one wishes to deal more in
the subject.
Definitely, a company is not only the production in cages, they are nurseries, food production, packaging,
distribution, marketing, management ... and all should work in harmony with the purpose “ to maximize the
productivity, profitability and sustainability”.
And yet from all the above, the production is of particular importance, especially the convergence of
accounting and actual stocks. The stock data are livestock, which the companies periodically declared
through the financial statements to the stock market. It is important every financial statement to be
accompanied with the measuring accuracy.
The best picture of the actual stocks with low permissible variation should be a key aim of every fish
production.
To know with accuracy the actual stock in each cage, is difficult to be achieved because many factors
influence the deviation among accounting and actual stock. Such factors are fish escape, mortality not
measured correctly, possible theft, average weight miscalculation, wrong data recording. .. the achievement
of this aim is a beautiful challenge for any right manager.
The goal is simple, measurable and it can be used for the evaluation of the staff and associates of the
company.
The goal itself requires cooperation of many people, so it can be used as a measure of the cooperation
among those involved with the production.
Let's make an effort analysing the above purpose.
small business
Assume for example that we have a small business with a unit with 25 cages (100,000 fish in each cage), a
local supervisor, a diver, guards, feeders and labor.
The entrepreneur is directly concerned with the convergence of accounting and actual stock because the
actual stock put money in his pocket.
He will wander over the cages to see if there are fish from the farm outside nets, he will make friends with the
locals anglers to have information and he will strive for the convergence with employees and partners.
If the workers and associates are not well qualified, responsible and well-paid, the entrepreneur will have
losses, but that would not be surprising for him, since from his own and external information already knows
for fish escapes.
A small businessman has very good convergence of accounting and actual stock.
"virtual" companies
If we change scale, we will see the case of fish-farming companies and instead of a unit we have 100 or 300
units or large growing parks with hundreds of cages in each.
Companies run by major shareholders, or managers and hundreds of small shareholders have invested in
them, trusting their managers.
Shall managers accept the convergence of stocks as a basic purpose of production?
Someone would say, that it is obvious and mandatory for the companies, since they have to periodically
declared the live stock (through the financial statements) to the stock market and the state.
If the managers think a little mischievous, they can play with accounting and actual stock. Who can control
them? The auditors do not know how to count real fish.
Assume that the managers accept as a basic purpose of production, the convergence of accounting with the
actual stocks, the implementation of that objective is management.
Let's try to look at some important considerations in the implementation on a hypothetical virtual company.
The first thing the managers have to do is to descend themselves in production to have direct experience of
what running. Better to attend themselves a catching in rough weather, a feeding in August or in February
and if they can make a dive and descend, to see the divers working and nets with hundreds of thousands of
fish in each.
Given that all employees and partners in production have serious and responsible role within a foreign
dynamic environment, over and into the sea, they should be well paid with rewards dependent of their
responsibly and their abilities.
If the managers are rationalists, they will understand that all production people should be paid well (because
every mistake or carelessness costing seriously) and simultaneously they should be checked, if they have do
right that for which they are paid. The labor costs of production is small compared with the cost of food, or
with the cost of small and large accidents that may occur.
If a feeder throw the food into the sea, if a catching tear the net, if a guard opened a hole in the nets (for
friends to come in the afternoon to fish), if the diver does not do the proper control, the company will lose
fish. The company will be aware for the loss with the end of catching or the fish will have a lower average
weight increase than expected.
The production people beyond the responsibility of their position, sometimes die during the execution of their
work.
The next thing you need is an electronic data processing with the severity of a bank. If the data processed in
the system, they should not be changed by anyone, in case of error should be explained the correction.
The cages are grouped in culture parks and local units and responsible personnel assume a certain number
of cages.
Those responsible personnel will only process data and that data will be accessible, to all those who have
positions of responsibility for these cages.
The data will be the basis for an evaluation of groups and individuals involved in the production. Every time
when catching finish in a cage, or vaccinations finish to another, accounting stocks encountered with the
actual. The differential contacting to the team which is in charge for the cage.
Whenever the deviation is acceptable the whole team gets a positive indication for the cage, and if the
discrepancy is large, the whole team gets a negative indication and check should be made to find the cause.
It is obvious that the evaluation and compensation of employees and collaborators should be linked in some
way to the success or failure of convergence of accounting and actual stock. In the same way a feeder can
be continually aware of the development of fish that he feeds and rewarded when these fish have an
average weight greater than expected.
These data are printed in a paper, posted to the unit and change monthly, included new data for fry import,
average weights measurements, vaccinations, catching, mortality, escapes
The escapes can be happen by accident or carelessness. When the escapes happen the team in charge
should be attempting the identification with a cage and import an approximate value into electronic data
processing.
An important parameter is certain people to assume responsibility for specific cages for long periods, since
the residence time of fish in sea from fry to catching up, is more than a year.
For example to check the team which is responsible for some specific cages, you should use the cages in
which the team was responsible from introducing fry up the catch.
The above management have as main objective the convergence of accounting with the actual stocks. The
evaluation and the earnings of the personnel are direct linked with the same objective.
That is the spine bone of a production and above it you can support the research, the development and the
innovation.
Companies under pressure
As I mentioned in the case of some small business, managers may try to reduce labor costs in production
especially if they have liquidity problems. The problem will be bigger if the managers reduce the labor cost of
the field workers when the same moment they do not reduce the cost for themselves and selected stuff.
Problems can arise, when basic procedures and checks given to external teams with less cost, when
simultaneously company teams do the same or less job more expensive.
Problem for production can occur, if there is no liquidity for the purchase of raw materials needed for
manufacture of fish feed. The fish will not die by reducing food but it will not grow up.
The lack of liquidity may force companies to sell stocks lower than the cost, causing damage to the entire
industry.
Changing managers in fish-farming industry
In the case were Hellenic Financial Stability Fund decides to change managers, the first thing the new
manager should do in production is to control the fish stocks by controlling the electronic data processing
and set a network of people responsible for the stocks of each cage.
Some of the above thoughts have been already published in Greek from me
http://www.capital.gr/stoupas/Article.aspx?id=1963848 (there is no English translation available, you can try
with google translator if you wish)
http://www.akvaplan.niva.no/en/aquaculture
