100% Great Lake Fish: Ontario Supply Chain Analysis. Commissioned by the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers.

Authors

Eric Molnar
Paul van der Verf
Jury Gualandris, Western UniversityFollow
Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

9-2024

URL with Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.5206/iveypub.79.2024

Abstract

Southern Ontario offers valuable insights into the supply chain dynamics of fish harvesting and processing across the Great Lakes region. This report analyzes the existing supply of raw materials produced by fish processing plants and evaluates the feasibility of integrating these resources into other markets. This synthesized report compiles and integrates information from various databases. The analysis examines the quantities and rhythms of fish components from Walleye and Yellow Perch. The findings reveal that combining components from the two species can mitigate supply volatility throughout the year. Specifically, the analysis shows that the standard deviation of the weekly proportion of multi-species heads (1.09%) is smaller compared to the standard deviation of individual species – Walleye (1.27%) and Yellow Perch (1.45%). The reduced standard deviation for multi-species data suggests that incorporating diverse species smooths out extreme fluctuations in weekly supply, making it more attractive for new markets to incorporate these materials into their value chains. Additionally, the report identifies several viable upcycling models for repurposing fish by-products and highlights transformative upcycling models from other regions. The implications of this analysis suggest that substantial quantities of fish discards could lead to a broad range of upcycling opportunities for processing plants. By exploring these options, plants can enhance their economic and ecological performance.

Notes

Commissioned by Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Citation of this paper:

Molnar E., van der Werf P., and Gualandris J. (2024). 100% Great Lake Fish Ontario Supply Chain Analysis. Commissioned by the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers.