It is heartening to see companies reusing any waste products that come from the ocean. First there was sunglass company Karun in partnership with Bureo reusing fishing lines from the ocean and making them into eyewear. Continuing with their commitment to sustainability, they are reusing Salmon Skins in their Sunglasses and another Sunglass company, Norton Project is making sunglasses from Ocean plastic. Clothing is being constructed from ocean plastic with Adidas leading the way. (See Adidas is making shoes from ocean plastic)
Start up company Tidal Vision came up with another sustainable way to reuse several by-products from fisheries-cannerys . The first is Salmon Skin into leather accessories. The next is was to develop Tidal Grow, an eco-friendly fertilizer from crab and shrimp shells. Lastly creating a crab shell clothing collection called Chitoskin.
I just gotta Eco ya:
- 2 billion pounds of byproducts (fish skins and crab shells), Alaska’s fisheries toss each year.
- 1 Ton of Fish can produce 89 pounds of fish waste.
- Alaskan salmon canneries produce up to of 100,000 metric tons of salmon waste, the majority get dumped back into the ocean causing serious harm to marine life.
- Fish Skin is extremely durable, water repellant and can be easily dyed. It has been used as textiles in bikinis, handbags and accessories, furniture, shoes.
- Fish Skin is more eco-friendly than cow leather, as it reuses waste products and the ‘tanning’ does not require toxic treatments.
- Chitosan from crab and shrimp shells is a biodegradeable component that inhibits bacteria growth and eliminated odor in textiles.
- Recommendations for Salmon Waste in Alaska are: Reusing Salmon Sperm in LED lights, Harvest more fish oil, Salmon oil pills, Salmon BioFuel, Fish Compost. (Source)
I think FishSkins and reusing other Fishery byproducts will be the next big thing, especially in the fashion world. Less waste and more planet friendly, what more could you ask for?
Resources
- Atlantic Leather (Iceland) manufacturers of Fishskin Goods.
- FishSkin Clothes by Hezhe tribe in China
- The Fish Skin Costumes of the Hoche Tribe in China
- Things Made Up of Fish Skin
- Prada Dior and Nike finding fashionable use for FishSkin
- Fashion Surf and Turf: Why Fish Skins Are a Better Clothing Choice Than Leather
- Turning Fish Cannery Waste into Fuel
- The Effects of Fish Waste