For generations, commercial fishing operations across the Great Lakes have caught millions of pounds of fish each year, carved out the choice fillets, and tossed the rest. Heads, guts, skin, scales—all of it went straight to landfills or got dumped as low-value waste. That era appears to be over.
Forty-four fishing companies operating in the Great Lakes have now signed onto what's called the 100 percent Great Lakes Fish Pledge. The commitment is straightforward: use every part of every fish they catch, raise, or process. No exceptions. Together, these companies handle more than 30 million pounds of fish annually, which represents roughly 90 percent of the entire commercial catch across the Great Lakes by volume.
The shift marks a fundamental change in how the region's fishing industry operates. For decades, the business model focused almost entirely on fillets—the premium cuts that restaurants and grocery stores want. Everything else was considered waste, something to get rid of as cheaply as possible. Now, the industry is treating those so-called leftovers as valuable raw materials worth turning into something useful.
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, a regional organization that coordinates policy across U.S. states and Canadian provinces bordering the lakes, announced the milestone. According to the group, ending the practice of landfilling fish parts does more than just reduce waste. It creates new revenue streams for fishing operations, supports economic development in rural communities where these businesses operate, generates jobs in processing and manufacturing, cuts down on emissions from waste transportation and disposal, and strengthens the long-term viability of Great Lakes fisheries.
David Naftzger, who serves as executive director of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, pointed to the companies themselves as the driving force behind the change. "This milestone reflects the leadership of companies across the Great Lakes seafood value chain—commercial fishers, aquaculture producers, and processors—who are proving that full fish utilization is practical," he said. The organization sees the participating businesses as proof that maximizing use of each fish isn't just an environmental ideal but a workable business strategy.
The practical applications for fish byproducts have expanded considerably in recent years. Fish leather has emerged as a durable material for clothing, accessories, and upholstery. Fish meal serves as a protein-rich ingredient in animal feed and agricultural fertilizers. Fish oil finds its way into dietary supplements, cosmetics, and industrial applications. Parts that once had no market value now command prices that make collection and processing worthwhile.
The economic argument resonates with the people actually doing the work. Charlie Henriksen, a commercial fisherman in Wisconsin, said the pledge helps "align and accelerate" efforts that were already happening across different parts of the region. Many fishing operations had started exploring ways to extract more value from their catch, but the pledge creates a unified framework and shared commitment that makes coordination easier.
Aquaculture operations, which raise fish in controlled environments rather than catching wild stocks, see full utilization as a logical extension of their existing practices. Michael Sellitti runs Skytop Springs Fish Farm and called the approach a "natural extension" of responsible production methods. For farms that already invest heavily in maintaining water quality, managing fish health, and controlling every aspect of the growing process, wasting half the fish at harvest doesn't make sense.
The pledge also carries cultural significance for tribal fishing operations in the region. Many tribes hold treaty rights to fish the Great Lakes and have maintained commercial and subsistence fishing traditions for generations. Doug Craven, who directs natural resources for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, explained that using more of each fish "reflects respect for the resource" and aligns with both community values and long-term sustainability goals. For tribal fisheries, the commitment connects economic benefits with stewardship principles that predate the commercial fishing industry by centuries.
The Great Lakes support substantial commercial fishing activity alongside a growing aquaculture sector and numerous fish processing facilities. The five lakes—Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario—collectively form the largest freshwater system on Earth. Commercial fishing in the region targets species including whitefish, perch, walleye, and others, with operations ranging from small family-owned boats to larger commercial fleets.
Getting 90 percent of the region's commercial catch covered by the pledge represents significant progress, but the organizers aren't stopping there. The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers plans to expand participation throughout 2026, with particular attention on bringing more aquaculture companies into the commitment. The organization also wants to incorporate fish cleaning stations—the facilities where recreational anglers bring their catch to be processed.
Adding cleaning stations to the network could prove especially valuable for building out the infrastructure needed to make full utilization work at scale. These facilities process fish for thousands of recreational anglers across the region but have generally operated outside the commercial supply chain. Connecting them to collection and processing networks could create efficient local systems for gathering material that would otherwise go to waste and channeling it toward productive uses.
The infrastructure challenge is real. Converting fish parts into marketable products requires specialized equipment, transportation networks to move material before it spoils, and processing facilities that can handle the volume. Building those systems takes investment, and companies need confidence that markets for the products will justify the expense. The pledge creates that confidence by demonstrating industry-wide commitment and coordinating efforts across state and provincial borders.
The environmental benefits extend beyond just diverting material from landfills. Transporting waste to disposal sites burns fuel and generates emissions. Organic material in landfills produces methane as it decomposes, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. Using fish byproducts productively eliminates those emissions while potentially displacing other materials with larger environmental footprints. Fish meal used in animal feed, for example, can replace some reliance on soy or other crops that require significant land, water, and chemical inputs to produce.
The Great Lakes fishing industry operates in a complicated regulatory environment with multiple jurisdictions, treaty obligations, competing interests between commercial and recreational fishing, and ongoing concerns about invasive species and water quality. Any change that strengthens the economic position of commercial fishing operations while also advancing environmental goals represents a significant achievement in a sector where those interests often seem to conflict.
The companies that signed the pledge come from across the entire supply chain. Some are commercial fishing operations that catch wild fish. Others are aquaculture facilities raising fish from eggs to harvest. Still others are processing companies that buy fish from various sources and prepare them for market. Getting all these different types of businesses to commit to the same standard required coordination and demonstrated that full utilization works across different business models.
The timing matters too. The commercial fishing industry in the Great Lakes faces pressure from multiple directions—changing environmental conditions, competition for limited fish stocks, rising operating costs, and shifting consumer preferences. Finding new revenue streams from material that used to be thrown away provides a financial cushion and makes operations more resilient to other challenges.
Expanding markets for Great Lakes fish products also serves a broader economic development goal for the region. Rural communities around the lakes have historically depended on fishing, but many have seen those economies decline. Creating value-added products from fish byproducts means more processing and manufacturing happens locally rather than shipping raw fish elsewhere. That translates to jobs, tax revenue, and economic activity in places that need it.
The path forward involves continuing to sign up companies that haven't yet joined, building out the infrastructure to make collection and processing efficient, and developing markets for the products created from fish byproducts. The organization leading the effort believes the momentum exists to reach truly comprehensive participation across the region's fishing industry, moving from 90 percent coverage to something approaching total commitment.
Whether other fishing regions around the country and world follow the Great Lakes example remains to be seen. The model requires a level of industry coordination and shared commitment that doesn't emerge easily in competitive business environments. But the companies participating in the pledge are demonstrating that treating fish as a resource worth using completely, rather than partially, makes economic sense while also addressing environmental and cultural concerns. That combination of practical benefits might prove persuasive to fishing industries elsewhere looking for ways to strengthen their businesses while improving their environmental performance.
