When Jenison native Marissa Fellows moved to Boston, she found herself surrounded by tinned fish. “It was on every menu—wine bars, bodegas, picnic baskets,” she says. “You could choose by region—Portugal, Spain, Norway, Maine. But there was nothing from the Great Lakes. I remember saying out loud, ‘Why don’t we have this?’”
Years later, that question became her business. Fellows launched Great Lakes Tinned Fish in November 2024, the first Midwest-based tinned fish company sourcing exclusively from the Great Lakes. Her signature product—cold-smoked whitefish, offered in original, garlic-shallot, and soon lemon-dill—celebrates both the tradition and innovation of products from Michigan’s legendary waters.
“I cold smoke because it’s delicate and mild,” she says. “It reminds people of those summer vacations up north.” Working with longtime fisheries like VanLandschoot & Sons in Munising, she’s helping to keep Michigan’s commercial fishing industry viable—and visible.
Planning her brand took her as far as Lisbon, where she witnessed centuries of canning perfected. “There, tinned fish isn’t a trend—it’s a time-honored process,” Fellows says. “Seeing that staying power made me realize this could work at home.”
The business has grown quickly—150 stores in 25 states within its first year. “It’s been a wild year,” she says. “I’ve been so fortunate to have people in the fishing and food community open their doors and share advice.”
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