Oregon City, Oregon · River to Root Initiative

From river
to root-deep soil.

Cascadia Soil Co. is developing a sealed, fermented fish-based living soil amendment — built from clean fish trimmings, whole invasive shad, and pikeminnow. It is designed to bring both nutrients and living microbes back into Pacific Northwest soil.

  • Garage lab pilot scale
  • Batch 001 complete
  • Heavy metals testing clear
Cascadia Soil Co. seal — a leaping salmonid above mountains, a river running into roots.
Mission

A closed loop between Pacific Northwest waterways and Pacific Northwest soil.

We take what the Columbia and Willamette river systems already give us — clean fish trimmings from local fish processors, whole invasive shad, and pikeminnow from regional waterways — and we work toward a sealed fermentation process that returns those nutrients and beneficial microbes to soil as a living liquid amendment called fish hydrolysate.

We are pilot-stage and pre-revenue. We are not selling a product. We are building a credible Oregon supply chain: river to processor, processor to fermenter, fermenter to grower, grower back to the watershed.

Why it matters

Three problems. One circular answer.

01

Invasive fish in the Columbia

American shad return to the Columbia and Willamette in enormous numbers and out-compete native salmonids. Today much of this invasive fish harvest is underused or discarded. We are designing for whole shad and pikeminnow as primary feedstocks — turning ecological pressure into agricultural input.

02

Fish trim that never reaches soil

Pacific Northwest fish processors generate clean, high-quality trim every week. Much of it is landfilled or rendered offshore. We are working with local partners to capture that stream and ferment it close to where it is cut.

03

Growers want a PFAS-free alternative

Concerns about synthetic and biosolid-derived inputs are pushing growers to look for cleaner biology. We are designing our process specifically as a PFAS-free alternative — sourced from food-grade feedstock, sealed, and traceable.

Process

River to root, in five steps.

A sealed, low-energy fermentation workflow designed for small-footprint sites. Pilot-stage; protocols and timing are still being refined.

  1. 1

    Source

    Clean fish trimmings from local fish processors, whole invasive shad, and pikeminnow — sorted, cold-held, traceable to the source.

  2. 2

    Prepare

    Fish is ground and blended with natural carbon, minerals, and native Lactobacillus bacteria to help guide a clean, steady fermentation.

  3. 3

    Ferment

    Sealed anaerobic vessels hold the batch through a multi-week fermentation. As native Lactobacillus becomes dominant, it helps guide the vessel away from putrefaction and toward a cleaner, lower-odor process.

  4. 4

    Stabilize

    The amendment is decanted, filtered, and pH-checked. Samples are pulled for third-party lab testing before grower feedback begins.

  5. 5

    Field

    Pilot quantities go to selected growers under partnership — paired with field notes so each application teaches the next batch.

Cascadia Soil Co. is pilot-stage. We are not registered, certified, or approved as a fertilizer or amendment in any jurisdiction. Statements on this site describe a product and process under development.

Current pilot status

Three pilot batches in motion.

Our work has moved from a backyard pilot into a small Oregon City garage lab with upgraded fermenters while we continue searching for the right dedicated production space. We are documenting each batch so that the first commercial-scale run inherits a real record — not a marketing deck.

Batch 001 Complete
Feedstock
Steelhead trimmings + whole invasive shad
Outcome
Protein liquefied; bone recovered as fish bone meal
Stage
Heavy metals clear; nutrient analysis pending

Heavy metals testing came back pristine. We are awaiting the nutrient profile analysis from Western Labs in Idaho. Pilot material has been placed with two craft cannabis growers and one small Oregon City nursery for observation while results are pending.

Batch 002 In progress
Feedstock
Whole invasive shad only
Vessel
Sealed pilot fermenter
Stage
Mid-fermentation; encouraging inspections
Batch 003 Preparing
Feedstock
Source mix being prepared
Vessel
Upgraded garage-lab fermenter
Stage
Pre-fermentation setup
Feedstock & scale-up relationships
  • Aji Fish Butchery — interested in providing clean trimmings.
  • Portland Fish Market — in talks with Ben, the owner, as a potential ongoing fish trim source.
  • Iliamna Fish Co. — committed 10 buckets of salmon trimmings in August.
  • Oregon City anglers — donating whole shad from local recreational fishing.
  • OSU Food Innovation Center — Sarah Masoni met with us and is helping make scale-up connections.
  • Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission — early conversation planned to explore whether there is a responsible mutual-benefit pathway.

Early-stage commitments and conversations. We are actively seeking the right production space, plus additional feedstock, testing, grower, and scale-up partners across the Portland metro and lower Columbia.

Contact

Talk to Tito.

The fastest way to start a real conversation is a short email describing who you are and which lane you're in: pilot space, feedstock, grower trial, or funding. Tito reads everything that comes in.