John Schmidt - Green Bay Waterfront

Guts and glory: Thinking beyond the fillet

On: December 11, 2025

In: 100% Great Lakes Fish, Charlie Henriksen, Commercial Fishing, Eat Wisconsin Fish, Grace Elonen, Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, John Schmidt, Sharon Moen

A man in a blue shirt and white hat holds up a big bag of red fish guts

UW–Milwaukee graduate student Kyle Freimuth holding a bag of fish byproducts. Photo: Sharon Moen

When Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Eat Wisconsin Fish team posted the question, “What would you do with a pile of fish guts?,” social media users from across the state creatively responded with ideas that included:

Make fly traps
Donate them to the raptor center in Spooner
Feed them to mink at a mink farm
And – less helpfully – place them under my brother’s car seat on a sweltering July day

“Fertilizer” was the most popular answer to this post, which was one of several that boosted the 100% Wisconsin Fish Contest. The contest ran from September 16-October 24, 2025. It was part of a broader effort to highlight Wisconsin’s sustainable fisheries and the 100% Great Lakes Fish Initiative, which promotes full use of commercially harvested fish – including byproducts.

Grace Elonen of Omro, Wisconsin, submitted the winning entry. She wrote:

“Fish scales are often the first part discarded when harvesting. Fish scales and skin are comprised of collagen… Knowing the collagen source was sustainably harvested is a good selling point. Knowing the collagen came from our own Great Lakes would be even better. Tagline: Take a little bit of the Great Lakes with you everywhere.”

John Schmidt, program manager for the Conference of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Governors and Premiers (GSGP) 100% Great Lakes Fish Initiative, praised the idea. “Collagen from Great Lakes fish scales and skins squarely advances 100% fish goals, has multiple markets, and we’ve already flagged collagen as one of the best-case strategies for the region,” he said.

An AI-generated image of a glass jar of fish collagen sitting on a rocky beach

The winning idea for using more parts of a fish involved scales and skin. Photo credit: Gemini AI-generated image submitted by Grace Elonen.

Judges – including Schmidt, two commercial fishers, and a University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduate – commended Elonen’s regional branding concept, noting that taglines like the one Elonen offered underscore both local pride and market potential.

Charlie Henriksen, co-owner of Henriksen Fisheries and a contest judge, applauded the thoughtfulness behind many submissions. “All the ideas had some value, and I appreciate the people who provided serious replies,” he said.

He gave special mention to making dog treats from dehydrated fish skins and using fish parts for stock. When it comes to fish stock, he said, “The issue to overcome is producing a stock with consistent flavor and texture. Many chowders now use clam juice, so a genuine whitefish stock would be valuable.”

Led by GSGP, the 100% Great Lakes Fish Initiative brings together dozens of partners – including Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wisconsin commercial fishers, fish farmers, and processors – to demonstrate how every part of Great Lakes fish can be used for food, products, and other innovative purposes. Wisconsin Sea Grant’s online contest may serve as a model for similar efforts in other Great Lakes states according to Schmidt.

The contest was made possible through support from GSGP, along with interns Kyle Freimuth and Wyatt Slack, and Wisconsin Sea Grant’s communications team. Special thanks to judges Charlie Henriksen (Henriksen Fisheries), Jessica Resac (Halvorson Fisheries), John Schmidt (GSGP), and UW–Madison undergraduate Wyatt Slack.

The post Guts and glory: Thinking beyond the fillet first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/guts-and-glory-thinking-beyond-the-fillet/

Andrew Savagian

Fish are often enjoyed as fillets, but could they also become a beverage, a belt, or a spot of sparkly makeup?

Eat Wisconsin Fish and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers (GSGP) are fishing for your ideas on how to creatively use all parts of commercially caught Great Lakes fish. Now through October 24, 2025, you can submit your ideas to the 100% Wisconsin Fish contest for a chance to win a Great Lakes prize pack.

“We’re looking for bold, innovative ideas that go beyond the traditional uses of fish,” said Sharon Moen, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s food-fish outreach coordinator who is helping run the contest. “Typically, only 40% of the fish is used, and that’s the fillet. Finding ways to use the remaining 60% will help us reduce waste and create new economic opportunities in Wisconsin.”

The contest is part of GSGP’s 100% Great Lakes Fish initiative, which seeks to find commercial uses for all parts of harvested fish across the entire Great Lakes region. The initiative is modeled after Iceland’s successful effort to find more uses for harvested cod. According to GSGP, Iceland has now developed commercial uses for 90% of the cod, and its value has risen from $12 to $4,000.

“We see huge potential for Wisconsin and the region to unlock new industries, create jobs, and ensure that the full value of these fish supports our region’s communities,” said John Schmidt, GSGP program manager. “We applaud Wisconsin Sea Grant’s creative approach to gathering new ideas with the Eat Wisconsin Fish contest. We are eager to see what comes of this!”

The contest is open to all Wisconsin residents, but participants under the age of 18 will require parental/guardian consent. Contestants will need to write a short description of their product and explain its benefit to the Great Lakes and Wisconsin’s coastal communities. A team of judges will then convene in late October to evaluate ideas on usefulness, feasibility, creativity, and regional importance.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing how people think beyond the fillet,” said Moen.

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The University of Wisconsin Aquatic Sciences Center administers Wisconsin Sea Grant, the Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, and Water@UW. The center supports multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach for the protection and sustainable use of Wisconsin’s water resources. Wisconsin Sea Grant is one of 34 Sea Grant programs supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in coastal and Great Lakes states that encourage the wise stewardship of marine resources through research, education, outreach, and technology transfer.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/submit-your-ideas-to-the-100-wisconsin-fish-contest/