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The 15 Weirdest Products Made From Fish

A list of some of the weirdest things made from fish.

By Christopher Balogh

Updated: December 13, 2013

Stingray Shoes

Need a pair of some new blue suede shoes? Too bad. They only sell shoes made from stingrays. Rayfish Footwear says that they have “been in operation for over a decade, raising stingrays in our Thai aquaculture facility. We are a family-run company with a long organic tradition in creating handcrafted shoes from stingray leather. In 2011, we successfully engineered our first fully bio-customized stingray. Each shoe is crafted according to our ‘one fish, one shoe’ principle.”

Fisheyes

Erik de Laurens, an artist, brings a whole new meaning to fisheye. Some of de Laurens’ selected work has been made of 100% fish scales (no added compound). de Laurens’ website says, “the fishing industry generates several circumstances where many tons of fish scales are leftover. Using this waste as resources for the production of his fish-scale-plastic, I tried to highlight the potentiality of these industrial flaw.
In order to test the material I have designed 3 pairs of goggles and glasses inspired by swimming goggles and a table with an inlay of a fish.”

Fish Stick

Fish Glue was used by the Greeks and Romans to develop veneering and marquetry, specifically wood bonding. During the medieval ages, fish glues also was used as a source for painting and illuminating manuscripts.

Fish Lips

Pucker up with some fish scales. Some lipstick has something called pearlescence packed into it — the shiny stuff found in fish scales. Herring seems to be the fish to use for this glimmering addition to cosmetics.

Rhythm of the Ocean

Drumfactory Direct sells fish skin drumheads that come from “the Nile River sturgeon, a non-endangered species of the sturgeon.”

Yummy Fish

Gelatin in products like gel desserts, ice creams, gummy bears, marshamallows, basically anything found in a candy store has fish-by-products in it. To be more specific, fish bones. Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydolosis of collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, pigs, and fish. Fish-by-products have been used in production of these types of food because of religious obstacles surrounding geltain consumption.

Fish Ink

Natural sepia ink is a dye made from the ink of cuttlefish. The Greek name for cuttlefish, and the taxonomic name of the cuttlefish genus is Sepia, which is connected by the brown color of the cuttlefish ink itself. Some cultures use the ink in food coloring and flavoring as well. All cephalopods produce ink, such as octopus (black ink), squid (blue-black) and cuttlefish (brown). Wonder if there is a cephalopod coloring set?

Sand (Shark) Paper

Sharkskin, which are covered with minuscule dermal denticles were used as sandpaper.

Bedazzled Fish

Some African cultures make fish bone necklaces, using the veterbrae bones from dried fish.

Cactchup

According to Gizmodo, making ketchup all started with anchovies. Gizmodo says that “the first English reference to ‘katchop’ was in the book, Compleat Housewife [sic], published in 1727, which contained directions for a sauce spun from ‘twelve to fourteen anchovies, ten to twelve shallots, white wine vinegar, white wine…mace, ginger, cloves, whole peppers, a whole nutmeg, lemon peel, and horseradish.’ Way back it was more like a fish sauce than our condiment today… and maybe really gross. But apparently people didn’t think so, because cookbook authors were reprinting the above recipe well into the 19th century.”

Giddyup Meds Made from Seahorses

According to the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley, “seahorses are reputedly high in yang, the active male force, and are a respected treatment for many ailments associated with a cold kidney system. As a source of fire energy, seahorse can be used to treat many symptoms including impotence, urinary incontinence, wheezing, abdominal pain, toxic swelling and debility in the elderly.” Apparently, selling seahorses is quite the profitable industry, UC Berkely’s findings state that, “even though most fishermen sell their catch to distributors at the low price of $0.10 to $1.56 USD per kilo, the profit is a strong incentive. Desiccated seahorses sell for between $333 and $666 USD per kilo in San Francisco.

Fish is for the Dogs

Some of Rover’s food may contain salmon and whitefish. Both of these fish are good sources for omega 3 fatty acids. For dogs with allergies to wheat or an animal protein can feel better when their food is switched to a fish diet.

Seafood Sausage

We’ve all seen it at the grocery store. It’s not crab, although at those prices, we wish it was. For the most part, surimi is made from Alaskan pollock, Atlantic cod, croaker, bream, whiting, swordfish, tilapia, and bass. A melange of fish all stuffed into a crab stick that isn’t made of crab.

Vitamin “F”

According to Ohio State University, fish oil “has been proven that the Omega-3 fatty acids – eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid – prevent heart disease, improve cholesterol by reducing triglyceride levels, and prevent heart attacks, stroke, and death in people who already have heart disease.”

Fish Fertilizer

Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fish/Seaweed Blend fertilizer is what it sounds like — fish and seaweed in a bottle. Neptune’s says that, “gives you the best of both products with a perfect blend of fish hydrolysate and seaweed, ensuring a complete fertilization program. Growers using our fish/seaweed blend fertilizer on a regular basis have reported increased marketable yields and improved shelf life on fruits and vegetables. Fish and Seaweed are known to build the natural sugar in plants. Flowers and foliage will be stronger and more colorful. Blooms will be more plentiful, fragrant and longer lasting. “