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ing fewer people to develop the traditional fish skin craft. There are currently only a
few people left who know how to create these fish skin garments (Campbell 2010).
Overfishing and water pollution have caused fish stocks to drop, and many Arctic
aboriginals have turned to farming and tourism to make a living, abandoning their
fish skin skills (Lin 2007).
15.2.2 Iceland’s Traditional Knowledge of Fish Skin
For much of their history, Icelanders wore shoes made of fish skins processed using
traditional tanning methods. Each shoe was cut from a single piece of fish skin, with
a vertical seam at the heel and a seam at the toe. They were soft, supple, flat-soled
traditional footwear (Mould 2018). Contemporary accounts of travels around
Iceland in the mid- to later eighteenth century describe and illustrate men wearing
traditional fish skin shoes (Hald 1972), suggesting that the working man wore them
on a daily basis. Icelanders made their shoes from wolf fish leather, and they measured distances by how many pairs of fish skin shoes would be worn out by walking
over the path.
15.2.3 Fish Waste: Use of Fish By-Products by Aboriginal
Peoples
The use of fish by-products was well-known to aboriginal peoples in Arctic communities (Hardy 1992). The specific material properties of fish skin have been
known since ancient times. Some human cultures developed unique techniques to
process fish leather from fish skin and used this leather for clothing and shoes
(Ehrlich 2015). Icelandic history, right from the settlement of Iceland in the ninth
century, has been interwoven with marine resources, and fish have been their main
source of food and income (Sigfusson and Arnason 2017a, b). Icelanders are known
for reusing everything, and they still have their ancestors’ spirit of finding the useful
in everything. Improved usage of so-called waste and other by-products could help
meet increasing demand for seafood without further stress to the ecosystem. Some
“waste” products can have a very high value if they are used. A more efficient use
of resources will benefit society, the environment and the industry’s bottom line
(Bechtel 2003).
The use of fish skin by the Arctic’s aboriginal peoples has recently been assimilated as an innovative sustainable material for fashion due to its low environmental
impact. Fish skins are sourced from the food industry, using waste, applying the
principle of the circular economy (Jacobs 2018).
15 SDG 14 Life Below Water
ing fewer people to develop the traditional fish skin craft. There are currently only a
few people left who know how to create these fish skin garments (Campbell 2010).
Overfishing and water pollution have caused fish stocks to drop, and many Arctic
aboriginals have turned to farming and tourism to make a living, abandoning their
fish skin skills (Lin 2007).
15.2.2 Iceland’s Traditional Knowledge of Fish Skin
For much of their history, Icelanders wore shoes made of fish skins processed using
traditional tanning methods. Each shoe was cut from a single piece of fish skin, with
a vertical seam at the heel and a seam at the toe. They were soft, supple, flat-soled
traditional footwear (Mould 2018). Contemporary accounts of travels around
Iceland in the mid- to later eighteenth century describe and illustrate men wearing
traditional fish skin shoes (Hald 1972), suggesting that the working man wore them
on a daily basis. Icelanders made their shoes from wolf fish leather, and they measured distances by how many pairs of fish skin shoes would be worn out by walking
over the path.
15.2.3 Fish Waste: Use of Fish By-Products by Aboriginal
Peoples
The use of fish by-products was well-known to aboriginal peoples in Arctic communities (Hardy 1992). The specific material properties of fish skin have been
known since ancient times. Some human cultures developed unique techniques to
process fish leather from fish skin and used this leather for clothing and shoes
(Ehrlich 2015). Icelandic history, right from the settlement of Iceland in the ninth
century, has been interwoven with marine resources, and fish have been their main
source of food and income (Sigfusson and Arnason 2017a, b). Icelanders are known
for reusing everything, and they still have their ancestors’ spirit of finding the useful
in everything. Improved usage of so-called waste and other by-products could help
meet increasing demand for seafood without further stress to the ecosystem. Some
“waste” products can have a very high value if they are used. A more efficient use
of resources will benefit society, the environment and the industry’s bottom line
(Bechtel 2003).
The use of fish skin by the Arctic’s aboriginal peoples has recently been assimilated as an innovative sustainable material for fashion due to its low environmental
impact. Fish skins are sourced from the food industry, using waste, applying the
principle of the circular economy (Jacobs 2018).
15 SDG 14 Life Below Water