High demand for salmon leather is good news for Alaska
Salmon leather is a fast growing trend among environmentally-conscious manufacturers and is used for everything from shoes and apparel to wallpaper and interiors. And as more than 160 million salmon were pulled from Alaska’s waters in 2009, now is the perfect time for entrepreneurs to begin large-scale salmon manufacturing operations in the state, business figures there have said.
Several salmon leather enterprises have been attempted in Alaska over the years but none had staying power. However demand for the product is now so high that German company Nanai opened an office in Los Angeles this year. With skins purchased from an organic fish farm in Ireland, Nanai has adapted its tanning process and its name from the ancient traditions of Arctic region in Siberia where people have fished salmon for thousands of years.
"There is a large demand for it," said Sabah Coles of Nanai's newly opened Los Angeles office. "It's used for iPhone covers, motorcycle seats, and has been used for golf gloves, shoes, wall panels, lamps and book binding."
The skins of wild salmon are a natural by-product of the commercial fishing industry and salmon leather is noted for its environmentally friendly and ecologically sound qualities. Flexible, strong, light and breathable, the leather is likened to snakeskin in appearance.
Kodiak-based Alaska Salmon Leather Co. has been recycling salmon skins since 2002, although the resulting leathers are used exclusively to create specialty goods for the brand and are not for sale as finished leather.
