TUE AM News: Talking Trade with Dean Haen, Port of Green Bay; Great Lakes fish waste reduction effort underway

September 1, 2026

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Port of Green Bay Director Dean Haen says shipping totals through the northeastern Wisconsin port are ahead of last year, despite the “complete disruption” of commerce in the spring.

Heavy snowfall in March as well as “epic rains” across the region led to flooding in the region, also resulting in high-velocity water flow downstream and disrupting shipping in the bay.

“Ship captains could not, you know, push those vessels safely up the river,” Haen said. “So we were closed for 30-plus days, which had never happened … in the records that I found in the history of the Port of Green Bay.”

While the port lost out on more than a month of shipping activity, taking a financial toll on the operators that use the port, the picture has brightened in the months since.

“We have rebounded and are up overall compared to last year, even though we lost that chunk of time,” Haen said.

Along with discussing how the port’s resident businesses grappled with the challenges posed by the temporary shutdown — including diverting products elsewhere at great expense — Haen shares details on how coming activity is shaping imports to the region.

“There’s lots of construction in the region, so driving raw materials for asphalt and cement, and then the ag products, limestone and others that are moving,” he said. “It’s looking good, and hopefully it holds true and we have a good year come December.”

Haen also touches on the port’s new terminal site, which is currently seeking a tenant for the 14.5-acre location. Construction on the $60 million project is underway, and the site will be available next year.

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. CEO Sandi Siegel and sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Carroll University and Michael Best Strategies.

Watch the full episode here.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— A waste reduction effort for the Great Lakes fishing industry this year is resulting in 24.3 million pounds of fish byproducts being used for other products such as fertilizer and pet food.

That’s according to the first update from the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers on its 100% Great Lakes Fish initiative, which is ultimately targeting full utilization of its fish components.

That’s a major change from the status quo, the group says, noting only about 40% of each fish is consumed while the rest has been thrown away or “relegated to low-value uses.”

The group, which includes Gov. Tony Evers, yesterday released figures showing initial impacts from the project.

The fish byproducts being used are generating about $3.4 million in economic value, and resulting in about 9.6 million pounds of CO2 emission reductions, the conference reports. This represents the impact of 48 organizations that have pledged to support the effort by using all the fish byproducts they handle, rather than sending them to a landfill.

Participating organizations make up about 53% of estimated fish volume across participating industries, including 90% of commercial fishery volume, 55% of aquaculture production and 1% of recreational fish harvest.

Organizers are touting the progress made on the commercial side as well as the “high rate” of aquaculture participation, though recreational fishing efforts are “at an earlier stage.” They’re working with fish cleaning stations and others in the region to improve systems for ensuring byproducts can be used more effectively.

Byproducts targeted in the effort include skin, scales, guts, heads and tails, which are being made into things like fish meal and oil, pet food, fertilizer, compost, bait and even leather.

See the release.

— State officials say an $11 million award from the U.S. Department of Education will help provide career services for residents with disabilities without the need for a waitlist.

Gov. Tony Evers yesterday announced the funding from the federal agency for the state Department of Workforce Development’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The guv’s office says the funding will allow the department to serve all eligible participants without having to “restart a waitlist” through federal fiscal year 2027.

Evers’ office says the division wasn’t able to provide services to new participants for six months after a 2025-27 state budget request from the governor didn’t make it past the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee.

After the waitlist was started in December 2025, the division had about 7,600 state residents on it as of June 2, when JFC approved $6.4 million in additional base funding, the guv’s office says.

Since then, DVR has reduced the number of people on the waitlist, according to yesterday’s release.

Category 1 participants, who have the greatest need for services, are expected to be off the waitlist by Sept. 1. Officials aim to completely address the waitlist by June 30, 2027. With the new federal funding, DWD says it has enough funding to meet demand for services through Oct. 1, 2027, based on current projections and federal funding levels.

See the release.

— State officials and lawmakers held a groundbreaking for the $1.8 billion federal-state project to rebuild the John A. Blatnik Bridge linking Superior and Duluth.

Gov. Tony Evers yesterday announced the official groundbreaking alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and other partners in the project. Both states have each committed $400 million in program funding for the replacement project, with final design work slated to finish late this year or early next year.

While a phased construction process will start this year, the bridge will be totally shut down for up to 56 months starting early next year. It’s scheduled to be finished in 2032, but will open to traffic in 2031.

The guv’s office says more than $4 billion in goods are transported over the bridge every year, noting its key role in linking businesses in the region with the port of Duluth-Superior, as well as Canada.

See the release.

— Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson says the city is pushing to end its contract with Flock, the latest move by municipalities against the company that has assembled a vast network of cameras nationwide that read license plates.

“There’s a lot of concerns when it comes to data management and sharing that data as well,” Sorenson said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “In the world of emerging AI and technologies, we want to make sure that we can work with a vendor and a partner that ensures that we have trust and is not violating our contracts.”

In recent days, the city has covered all 15 of its cameras. The city council is expected to vote after Labor Day to end its contract, a move backed by Sorenson and the city’s police chief.

Sorensen accused the company of violating its contract with the city.

“I can’t get into specifics at this time,” Sorenson said when asked about the specific nature of the alleged violations. “We were making sure that we’re doing our due diligence and reviewing our partnership in the contract terms and conditions that we have, and through that vetting process, we did sadly uncover that there was a violation of the contract on a few ends, so that’s why our city administration and city police department are making the recommendation to terminate that partnership.”

But Sorenson credited Flock cameras and the technology with helping solve crimes in the city.

“I don’t think it was a mistake,” he said. “I think we’re always willing to try new technologies and try to see if things work. Pilot programs are usually great ways to figure out what works and what doesn’t. We’ve had this for a few years. Sadly, they violated our trust and we’re moving on, and we’re going to make sure that we continue to do the good work that our police officers do to keep our community safe.”

See more from the show.

— The Sustainable Business Council is accepting applications to join the state’s Green Masters Program through Sept. 30, organizers announced.

The group yesterday announced the application deadline for this year’s program, which recognizes businesses for sustainability efforts with a tiered peer benchmarking framework.

Jessy Servi Ortiz, executive director of the council, says the program helps companies understand their own footprint and build systems needed to improve their environmental performance.

“Today’s businesses are being asked more frequently to provide information about their sustainability practices, environmental impacts, workforce initiatives, and governance policies,” Servi Ortiz said in a statement.

See the release.

See more and apply here.

Top headlines from the Healthcare Report…

— State health officials say the recent large jump in measles cases is due to the highly infectious nature of the disease and are urging residents to get vaccinated.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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