According to media reports, two students from Calcutta’s Government College of Engineering and Leather Technology Sandip Das and Risin Dey, have produced large quantities of leather from fish skin without the use of toxic tanning chemicals.

The team has created items such as shoes, wallets and bags from the leather. According to the students, the process is cost effective as much of the raw material comes from waste skin and the tensile strength of the leather produced is said to be as good as any other conventional leather.

The team expects to launch their fish leather products by the end of 2006.