Former Pescanova CEO Alfonso Paz-Andrade dies

Alfonso Paz-Andrade Rodríguez, the former CEO of Pontevedra, Spain-based Pescanova, died on Monday, 7 June in an automobile accident.

Paz-Andrade founded Vigo, Spain-based Ibercisa, a designer and manufacturer of deck machinery in 1969, and served as the company’s CEO until joining Spanish seafood firm Pescanova as CEO in 1977. He served in that position for 30 years, building the company into a global leader in the fishing industry.

He stepped down as CEO in 2007 but remained a major shareholder in the company until 2013, when he sold a large part of his holdings for more than EUR 2.5 million (USD 3 million), just prior to Pescanova suspending trading of its shares. He and 16 other Pescanova executives, including then-president Manuel Fernandez de Sousa, were accused of falsifying the company’s financial statements between 2009 and 2012 to hide losses and prevent bankruptcy. Paz-Andrade was convicted by Spain’s National High Court and sentenced to a year in prison and a fine, both of which were subsequently reduced, according to El País.

In his later years, Paz-Andrade became the director of industry publication Industrias Pesqueras, was president of the executive committee of Conxemar, the Vigo-based seafood trade show, and served as a boardmember of several fishing industry associations and Spanish banks.

“The Industrias Pesqueras team appreciates the numerous expressions of affection received from the fishing sector and the business community,” the publication said in a public statement.

Photo courtesy of Via Television