Study under way to find market for siscowet lake trout

[Spiel]

Study under way to find market for siscowet lake trout

 

 

Aug. 21, 2009

Kalvin Perron / Bay Mills News

 

 

Unlike a traditional lean lake trout, as shown on top in photo,

obesity comes natural for siscowets, shown on bottom of photo.

Meaning "to cook itself" in Ojibwe, siscowets have a tendency

to develop 40 to 70 percent more body fat than a lean trout.

 

 

 

 

 

LAKE SUPERIOR - It is no secret that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil have been shown to have numerous health benefits, ranging from boosting memory in aging adults to promoting heart health by lowering cholesterol, triglycerides, slowing the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques ("hardening of the arteries") and lowering blood pressure

 

In fact, because of these positive health effects, fish oil capsules captured the lion's share of the $34 billion Americans spent in 2008 on supplements and other complementary and alternative medicines. Those figures amount to almost a third as much money as they spent on prescription drugs and are only expected to go up as Americans are more willing to shell out their hard-earned money on preventative care.

 

And that's precisely what gets Michigan Sea Grant Extension Coordinator Ronald Kinnunen so excited when he looks out at the vast openness of Lake Superior. He knows that somewhere deep below the surface of the great Gichi-Gume swims the siscowet lake trout.

 

A bigger, older brother to the lean lake trout, the siscowet is a fat lake trout that lives in the deepest waters of the Great Lakes, up to 1300 feet. According to a study performed by Michigan State University, there are currently 616 million pounds of the fish in Lake Superior alone.

 

A siscowet is pictured after

being caught in Lake Superior.

Kinnunen believes that number presents a huge untapped market to enter into the fish oil industry.

 

"It's exciting when you think about all the possibilities," he said. "There is a huge amount of these siscowet in the lake right now. There's 20 siscowet to one lean lake trout. I tell the fishermen I talk to, 'You've got to think beyond just selling the fish. Think about selling its oil, too.'"

 

Although there was never really a thriving market for siscowet lake trout in Michigan, Kinnunen said that roughly 600,000 pounds. of the fatty fish was caught a year, up until the late 1980s, when high levels of pesticides such as chlordane began showing up in the fish. Because fatty predatory fish like the siscowet consume the smaller fish below them on the food chain, they have higher concentrations of pesticides due to a process called bioaccumulation.

 

But due to recent technological advances, Kinnunen said that a scientist at Louisiana State University has discovered how to remove any contaminants or impurities out of the fish. They also discovered that the siscowet is one of the oiliest fish they have ever seen, with much higher ratios of DHA to EFA than ocean fish, presenting an intriguing opportunity to tap into the multi-billion dollar market for its potential use in a fish oil supplement.

 

While the much more popular whitefish is also high in omega-3, Kinnunen said he envisions a diverse fisheries market where commercial fishermen are catching and selling the siscowet, as well.

 

"This has the potential to be a huge market," he said. "This could diversify the fisheries here in Michigan. When you look at the siscowet, they do have some impurities in them, so it makes sense to use them for the oil now that the impurities can be taken out."

 

Not only can the siscowet be used for the oil, but Kinnunen said another exciting possibility is to use it for insoluble and soluble protein meal to add to dog food and infant formula. With lake trout prices hovering around the 40 cents per pound range, Kinnunen said, when used for its oil, the siscowet averages about $200 per pound; it is worth about $20 per pound for the soluble protein meal while the insoluble would fetch about $1 per pound.

 

With the commercial fishing industry all but disappearing in the state and with the economy faltering, Kinnunen said opening the door to the fish oil industry could be a godsend.

 

"I really am excited about the potential," he said. "I've been looking at a lot of numbers of the past couple years to try and get some information out to the fishermen so they know where this stuff could go. The technology and the fish are there. It's up to us to find a way to use them."