Going to Iceland was a life-changing experience.” So recalls leathercrafter Joe Manthei of a trip he took with his wife, Pam Manthei, to the Land of Fire and Ice back in 2011.
The couple from Mora, Minnesota, had made the trek to investigate the island nationʼs sheep and wool production because Pam is a weaver and spinner. “But after visiting a tannery there,” says Joe, “we came back home and founded our company, Fiskur Leather.”
The Manthei’s website does include some Icelandic wool for sale, but the majority of the site and business is devoted to tanned fish skins and products—wallets, bags, belts, jewelry, watch bands, motorcycle seats, chess sets and more—made from fish leather. “Fiskur means fish in Icelandic,” adds Joe.
Fish leather is a thing? Absolutely, and itʼs quite a wonderful thing. The practice of making clothing and other utilitarian and decorative goods from fish hides goes back to ancient and Indigenous cultures around the globe, especially among those living in coastal regions and along rivers.
Vintage baskets, boots and mittens preserved in Smithsonian collections, for example, were made from fish leather by the Inuit, Yuʼpik and Alutiiq peoples of Alaska.
The production and use of fish leather declined in the late 19th century and the 20th century with the rise of manufactured fabrics. Today, the Mantheis are among a growing number of people worldwide who are rediscovering this ʻlostʼ material, tanning fish skins with traditional and experimental techniques, and creating an uncanny array of items both practical and luxurious. Though it currently accounts for only about 1% of global leather commerce (which various accounts place at $80 to $100 billion), renewed use of fish leather has proven beneficial to the fickle fashion world and, more importantly, to restoring and protecting the natural environment.
Because fish skin fiber runs crosswise, as opposed to the parallel structure found in cowhide and other leathers, fish leather is said to be much stronger than other leathers. Some of the toughest fish leather reportedly has a tensile strength of up to 90 Newtons, while cowhide strength ranges from 8 to 25 Newtons. (As one source explains the measurement system, “The units of measure for tensile strength are pounds per square inch (psi) or Newtons per square meter.” Some sources donʼt capitalize Newton.)
According to the, where the mission is “to encourage positive change for people and our planet,” salmon and perch leathers are the strongest. But a wide variety of species are utilized including lionfish, cod, tilapia, pirarucu, walleye, whitefish, carp, seawolf, sturgeon, burbot, dorado, yellowtail, tuna and catfish, to name a few.
