Website provides wealth of information on Great Lakes whitefish

Whether you’re looking for a new recipe to prepare premium Great Lakes whitefish fillets, information about the history of the species (scientifically known as Coregonus clupeaformis), or an interesting story about families that fish for Michigan’s primary commercial species, you’ll find it at www.greatlakeswhitefish.com

The website is the newest part of a multi-faceted marketing project developed by Michigan Sea Grant Extension in partnership with Michigan’s commercial fishing industry and supported by a grant from the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program’s Fisheries Extension Enhancement project. Sea Grant Extension Educator Ron Kinnunen helped lead the project to promote Great Lakes whitefish and assisted in website development.

“Great Lakes whitefish is well respected for its delicate flavor and texture,” says Kinnunen. “The more people know about this fish, the more likely they are to appreciate the fishery and put Great Lakes whitefish on their menu.”

The engaging website provides a host of information for consumers including how to buy fresh whitefish, health benefits, whitefish recipes and preparation tips. Visitors can also read about the history of the whitefish fishery in Michigan, and brief profiles of fishing families.

Kinnunen and Sea Grant extension program coordinator Chuck Pistis have worked closely with a stakeholder steering committee and Michigan State University’s Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources through several phases of the project to develop a more economically viable fishery. 

One significant aspect of the project has been consumer preference research. This testing has demonstrated that consumers prefer Michigan-caught Great Lakes whitefish to lake whitefish from inland lakes imported from other locations. Consumers also like expertly frozen products as well as fresh, so a major emphasis of the project is to work with the industry on making sure that they use the best freezing and vacuum packaging technology available. 

One recent development from the project is the formation of a marketing cooperative by four commercial fishing operations. All coop members committed themselves to stringent standards of product quality and consistency and chose Legends of the Lakes™ as the brand name for their one-pound packages of frozen, pin-boned premium fillets. Read more about the Legends brand in the Legends of the Lakes™ section.  Get to know the members of the cooperative by reading Fishing Families profiles.

“Members of the cooperative stand behind their product,” says Pistis. “Each package of Legends fillets provides contact information for the family that caught and processed the fish.” 
As the project continues to evolve, Kinnunen is working with culinary chefs to help them discover the desirable attributes of Great Lakes whitefish for their menus. 

By Carol Swinehart

See: www.greatlakeswhitefish.com

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