The race to find sustainable leather is on. Mushroom, cactus and pineapple leather are all strong contenders. But there’s a new challenger on the scene: fish leather. And it has some seriously strong eco-credentials.

A by-product of the fishing industry, it is sourced from non-endangered species. It’s stronger than other leathers. And it doesn’t even smell of fish. But the clincher is that fish leather offers a solution to the problem of invasive species.

Enter the lionfish. Native to the Indian and Pacific oceans and the Red Sea, they have spread from their traditional territories, with devastating consequences for other fish and coral reefs.

As reported in The Guardian, lionfish have decimated reef populations from Florida to Brazil. However, one enterprising company has decided enough is enough. 

Established by a team of scuba divers, a new company, Inversa, turns lionfish into fish leather, which it then sells to partner companies to be made into high-end products, such as wallets, belts and handbags.

As well as helping to remove an invasive species from the ecosystem, Inversa has helped to pioneer the sale of a much more sustainable form of leather. Unlike traditional animal leather, lionfish leather doesn’t involve any grazing, or the associated carbon emissions and soil degradation.