As traditional markets evolve, new ideas emerge

By Joyce Daniels

For commercial fishermen Ron and Ted Thill, harvesting a ton of lake whitefish every week from Lake Superior is only part of the job. Selling their product is the other. At Thill’s Fish House in Marquette, the brothers are quick to promote the mild-tasting fish to their customers, and the informal marketing pays off; lake whitefish account for 70 percent of their local sales. “We’ve always pushed whitefish, says Ted Thill. “We’ve converted the people who used to eat lake trout.”

Outside Michigan, however, selling lake whitefish is not easy. Traditional wholesale markets, formerly the backbone of the industry, are limited, and prices for fresh, dressed lake whitefish—which can typically range anywhere from 45 cents to $1 per pound—are currently on the low end of the scale.

The situation has some in the industry taking some creative approaches to promoting and marketing Great Lakes whitefish, Michigan’s biggest commercial catch.

“We have a great product. It just hasn’t been marketed,” says Forrest Williams of the Michigan Fish Producers Association, which represents 50 to 60 state-licensed fishermen. “We have a regional market but not a national draw.”