Bolivian artisans hail "the bull of the river"
01/07/2009
A community in the remote department of Beni in Bolivia has set up a co-operative to take advantage of the commercial opportunities arising from an unusual leather source.
Local people have caught and eaten the tiger catfish (pseudoplatystoma coruscans) in rivers such as the Iténez for many years, but now they have also begun to commercialise traditional artisanal leathergoods, including belts, wallets, key-rings and binders for diaries, that they make from the skins.
The artisans claim that the skin, which has no scales, has the same high level of durability as bull-hide, leading to the fish receiving the nickname of 'the bull of the river'.
Cornelio Molle, one of the artisans, has told Bolivian media that he and his fellow shareholders in the Chilito tannery tan the fishskins using traditional, natural methods, with the bark of an indigenous tree called the trupau as a tanning agent. Wrapping the skins in the bark and soaking them in water for four days is enough to change their colour from brown to pink, and for their fishy smell to diminish.
At its biggest, the tiger catfish can reach 1.2 metres in length. One skin can provide enough leather to make 10 belts, Mr Molle explained. He added that it takes him about three hours to make a belt, and as much as six hours to make a case for a diary. "But we're becoming more skillful all the time," he said.
So much so that the co-operative now has a sales outlet in the nearby town of Bella Vista and Mr Molle said orders from beyond Beni, and even from outside Bolivia, were also on the increase. "For that reason, we are trying to train more people in the community in leathergoods manufacturing skills," he said, "but that takes money, so we are trying to raise funding for this purpose at the moment."
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