Great Lakes Fisheries Aim for 100% Fish Use Like Iceland

In Iceland, fish startups are turning cod skin into lampshades, scales into medical bandages, and bones into collagen soda.

Now the Great Lakes wants in on the action. The 100% Great Lakes Fish Initiative aims to transform how North American fisheries work by using every part of every fish caught, just like Iceland does.

The numbers tell a stark story. Great Lakes fisheries currently use only 40% of each fish, mainly the fillet. The rest ends up in landfills or becomes low-value animal feed. Meanwhile, Icelandic cod fishers use over 90% of their catch, creating products that range from cosmetics to furniture.

David Naftzger, executive director at Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, visited Iceland and found something unexpected. Instead of traditional fish processing plants, he discovered a thriving ecosystem of startups where young entrepreneurs compete to extract value from every fish part.

"It wasn't at all what I expected," Naftzger says. "In North America, we tend to have a traditional industry doing things similar to the way they did 100 years ago. But in Iceland, the fish economy is hot, full of startups, and it's fun, exciting and cool."

The transformation happened because Iceland had no choice. When the country's fisheries collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s, the island nation had to innovate or lose its top export entirely. They chose innovation.

Walking into the Iceland Ocean Cluster, Naftzger first saw a lampshade made from cod skin. Then came a table displaying collagen soda, nutraceuticals, medical bandages, and fish leather for the fashion industry. Each product represented a different part of the fish that would have been thrown away decades ago.

The Ripple Effect

The shift to full fish utilization creates opportunities beyond sustainability. Young people interested in engineering design new machinery to process fish parts. Fashion designers work with fish leather. Cosmetics experts extract compounds for beauty products. The fishing industry becomes a gateway to multiple careers instead of just one.

For the Great Lakes region, even reaching a fraction of Iceland's success would mean significant change. More jobs would emerge as companies find ways to process and market fish parts. Less waste would reduce environmental impact. And fisheries would become more profitable without catching more fish.

The initiative shows Great Lakes seafood companies how small changes in processing can unlock big value. It connects them with Icelandic experts who have spent decades perfecting these techniques. And it builds a network of entrepreneurs ready to turn fish waste into marketable products.

If the Great Lakes can accomplish what Iceland did, tomorrow's fishing industry will look nothing like today's, and that's exactly the point.