GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Waste not, want not.
By way of a promise made by companies across the Great Lakes region, the practice of dumping commercial fish waste into landfills has effectively been ended, according to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers (GSGP).
In January, the intergovernmental group that includes the state of Michigan announced the historic milestone in a press release.
For the past three years, GSGP has recruited companies to sign the Great Lake Fish Pledge, which stands as a commitment to "productively use all parts of the fish they handle" so their heads, guts, skin and scales do not go to waste.
Forty-four companies have now signed the pledge — including Great Lakes Tinned Fish in Grand Rapids and Big O' Smokehouse in Caledonia — together accounting for more than 30 million pounds of fish annually or around 90% of the Great Lakes commercial catch by volume.
Great Lakes Fish Pledge
There's more to a fish than a filet, says the GSGP, and making good use of all of its parts has both an economic and environmental benefit.
"It's a waste not, want not story," said John Schmidt, the program manager for the GSGP's 100% Great Lakes Fish Initiative, which includes the Great Lakes Fish Pledge.
"If we can find a way to get more from less, take waste material and turn it into revenue streams, that's a win," he said.
Schmidt says, typically, only around 40% of a commercially-caught fish is used productively, which means the other 60% winds up in a landfill.
"Those materials aren't trash," he said. "They are raw materials that can be used to create new products, new revenue streams that have environmental and economic benefits throughout the region."
For Big O' Smokehouse, the responsible use of their Great Lakes-caught fish has meant turning salmon skin and meat into pet snacks. Meanwhile, others companies have turned to fish leather, fertilizer, composting, collagen programs and more.
Kent
Another Michigan company signed the Great Lakes Fish Pledge. What is it?
The initiative draws from Iceland's successful transformation of its cod fishery in the 1980s. Populations were in decline, so the country emphasized utilizing all parts of the fish.
"It's interesting," Schmidt said. "They're making more money than ever off their cod fishery and catching fewer fish."
In the Great Lakes, whitefish, a species "on the brink of collapse" in Lakes Michigan and Huron, according to a report from Bridge Michigan, could follow the same path.
"We're not reinventing the wheel," Schmidt said. "We're taking proven models, great ideas from around the world and adapting that to our own ecosystem and situation."
Great Lakes Tinned Fish
For Marissa Fellows, founder and owner of Great Lakes Tinned Fish, the Great Lakes Fish Pledge fits with her brand's three principles: celebrating local flavor and culinary innovation, supporting sustainable fishing practices and the region's commercial fishing industries and embodying the Pure Michigan and Midwest spirit of hospitality.
"You're just seeing within a year's time — or just over — how many people in the industry are really committed to seeing this waste reduction happen," Fellows said about the effective end to the land filling of commercial fish waste.
As Fellows' business model, the canning, packaging and selling of smoked whitefish fillets, doesn't directly deal with the less desirable parts of the fish, her commitment to the pledge comes through her partnership with VanLandschoot & Sons Fish Market, a fishery on Lake Superior that's also a signatory. She also promotes creative and innovative ways to utilize fish.
"I think it's so important to look holistically when it comes to supporting our commercial fisheries and the people behind them and the good they're trying to bring," Fellows said. "A lot of these are very complex issues, but there are people that are really deeply committed to it, and I think those things go hand in hand."
Great Lakes Tinned Fish sells three flavors of smoked whitefish available in nearly 180 stores across 29 states, including several locally-owned grocery stores in the Grand Rapids area.
