What do fish and paper mills have in common? Domtar has the answer

In Pennsylvania, a leading pulp and paper manufacturer is hatching and raising thousands of brook, brown and rainbow trout in one of their old filtration buildings. Domtar’s Johnsonburg paper mill started the hatchery in 1992 thanks to a now a retired maintenance manager, Rick Zelehoski, who had the idea to convert the old filtration building into a fish hatchery. They now grow the fish and release them into local waterways, averaging about 10,000 fish each year, even offering tours of the nursery for paper mill visitors. The program has won several awards for its success in helping the local fish populations and meets stringent aquaculture standards. Current Domtar employees, retired employees and others volunteer their time to care for the fish and maintain the nursery. As reported in NUU in August, Domtar is looking at expanding its products from wood pulp and remnants into other biomaterials. It will be interesting to see if they can find a way to use the fish hatchery water waste or other biomaterials for new bioproducts.