SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech Joins Initiative to Fully Use Each Fish

(Cobleskill, New York) – SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech has signed the 100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge, becoming the fourth research institution to join the initiative. Its participation brings the growing binational movement to 50 companies and organizations committed to ensuring that every part of each fish is fully used and not wasted.

SUNY Cobleskill is an agricultural and technology college, part of the State University of New York system, with fisheries and aquaculture programs and facilities where students and faculty raise fish including salmonids and tilapia. Fish material generated through the program, including mortalities, fileted racks, and other parts is collected and made into compost. The compost is used across campus in agriculture, landscaping, greenhouses, and other applications.

The institution’s participation follows the recent expansion of the Pledge to include laboratories and research facilities in the Great Lakes States, Ontario, and Québec that work with fish and fish materials. These organizations commit to productively using all fish and fish parts handled through their work wherever possible, rather than sending them to landfill.

As part of the Pledge, SUNY Cobleskill will work alongside other participating organizations and companies to promote the full use of fish. This includes raising awareness of opportunities for innovative fish co-products, such as compost, fertilizer, protein, marine collagen, leather, and other new, high-value products.

The Pledge is part of the 100% Great Lakes Fish initiative created by the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers (GSGP), an organization representing the Governors of the Great Lakes States and the Canadian Premiers of Ontario and Québec.

“SUNY Cobleskill is a natural fit for the 100% Great Lakes Fish Pledge because it is already putting fish material to productive use while training the next generation of fisheries and aquaculture professionals,” said David Naftzger, Executive Director of GSGP. “Research and teaching institutions can demonstrate practical approaches to full utilization and help develop new uses for fish materials. We are pleased to welcome Cobleskill to this growing network.”

The Great Lakes region is home to growing aquaculture operations and sizeable commercial and sport fisheries, but only about 40% of each fish (the filets) are usually eaten or productively used. In contrast, the remaining 60% of the fish is often relegated to inexpensive uses or discarded. The 100% Great Lakes Fish initiative seeks new and innovative ways to fully use each fish to reduce waste, create more value and jobs, and support rural economic development. Iceland pioneered this approach and has seen the value of products made from each cod skyrocket from $12 for just the filet to a remarkable $5,000 for products including cosmetics, medical bandages, nutritional supplements, and a range of other products.

"For our students, this is a chance to see the work they do in the classroom connect to a larger, region-wide effort," said Charles "Chip" Cotton, Associate Professor of Fisheries & Aquaculture at SUNY Cobleskill. “The Pledge reflects what we are already doing here through our academic and sustainability programs, and we are also interested in exploring opportunities to make fish materials available for other productive uses when there is a practical industry or research application."

More information on 100% Great Lakes Fish, including a copy of the Pledge, is available at htps://gsgp.org/projects/100-great-lakes-fish/.

To read the full press release, click here.