VanLandschoot and Sons Fish Market signs pledge to eliminate fish waste

MUNISING (WLUC) - Organizations across Lake Superior are making efforts to improve the environment.

VanLandschoot and Sons Fish Market is a five-generation fish market in Munising. VanLandschoot & Sons Fish Market President Dennis VanLandschoot said half of each fish that is fileted and sold often goes to waste.

That’s why the fish market has signed a pledge with the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers Organization to eliminate fish waste. VanLandschoot said his company has expanded its products to achieve that goal.

“We’re behind 100 percent white fish effort and we are now doing leather skins, belts purses, and things so yeah, we want to see that grow,” VanLandschoot said.

VanLandshoot said this plan will help support the natural resources that come from Lake Superior.

“It’s more sustainable, we want to take care of what we have and use 100 percent of it and that’s the steps we are trying to take,” Vanlandshoot said.

Great Lakes St. Lawrence Executive Director David Naftzger said creating the pledge has been a year-long effort.

“The pledge came together as a way to unite companies that are already working and to bring in some others that might not have been a part of this project to date all working together to not use more of the fish but to create as much value out of each fish,” Naftzger said.

Naftzger said VanLandschoot & Sons Fish Market in Munising has been a leading advocate for the project.

“We began by looking at commercially caught white fish and its more recently expanded to over species including yellow perch, lake trough, and white sucker, and in any case,” Naftzger said. “It’s grown to look at more species and more potential projects and Deniss Vanlandshoot has been a real leader in this whole initiative,”

Naftzger noted that his organization’s goal is 100 percent utilization of each fish caught in the region by 2025.

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