A Clermont County-based caviar farm is joining an international effort to use every part of each fish it raises.
Big Fish Farms in Bethel recently signed on to the 100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge, an initiative aimed at reducing waste and maximizing the value of every catch. It was created by the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, a group of leaders from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec working to protect the region’s fresh water.
According to the organization, 60% of each commercially caught fish is made into low-value animal feed or discarded. Just 40% of the fish is consumed by humans.
Big Fish Farms founder Renee Koerner says she took the pledge because its goals align with her sustainable aquaculture company’s values.
“When you're taking the life of anything, even a fish, you have a moral responsibility to use as much of that fish as possible — that has always been our focus,” Koerner said. “We've never put anything in a landfill or anything like that.”
Once the company harvests the caviar from paddlefish it raises in Ohio and Kentucky lakes, it uses the fish’s cartilage for dog food and composts the remaining parts.
Now, Koerner is starting to think about more innovative uses for the fish’s byproducts, like turning the skin into clothing-grade leather, or selling the fat for use in supplements.
“It's beautiful fat — I'm sure it's high in omega-3s,” Koerner said. “It's like whale oil. When you melt it, it will never congeal again. So, I'm sure there's a market for that.”
As part of the pledge, Big Fish Farms is working with the 41 other signatories to share knowledge and implement these new uses of their products.
“I'm really happy to be working with them to utilize more of the fish that we're harvesting,” Koerner said.
The idea for the pledge came from the Iceland Ocean Cluster, a group that initiated a 100% fish commitment for cod in Iceland. Today, 90% of the cod is consumed or processed, and the value of products made from each fish has grown from $12 to $4,000, according to the Iceland Ocean Cluster.
The Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers hopes its initiative will yield similar results.
Big Fish Farms is the second Ohio company to take the pledge. Euclid Fish Company in Mentor also has signed on.
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