The fisheries sector has seen appreciable growth in the last few decades, with global fish production reaching as high as 178 million tonnes in 2020. With this growing demand for aquatic foods, it becomes imperative to focus on the negative impacts the sector leaves on the ecosystem. Estimates show that 30-35% of the world’s annual fish production is lost as substantial waste or loss throughout the value chain stages. It is being highlighted that the sector that currently functions through linear economic model needs a shift towards the adoption of circular economy (CE), which prioritizes continuous resource use and minimizes waste generation. Transitioning from a linear economic model to CE is challenging because it involves reshaping our existing patterns of production and consumption and can be brought in by adopting ’use waste as resource’ strategy of CE. In this context, it is observed that fish skins, which constitute 3-10% of the fish’s body, are typically discarded as waste from the filleting industry. A study was conducted to utilize these discarded fish skins to develop a novel fish skin leather within the CE framework , which demonstrated appreciable physical characteristics, with tensile strength falling within the range of 10 N/mm 2 to 25 N/mm2 , tear strength 55 N/mm to 80 N/mm, elongation at break between 25% to 50%, and 0.5 to 1 mm thick and was at par with the Bureau of Indian Standards for l eather w atch s traps, b ook b inding leather, l eather g loves etc. The novel fish skin leather so developed was also assessed for its consumer perception based on sensory evaluation among leather professionals, textile designers, leather craftspersons, leather consumers, and fisheries professionals. All sensory attributes constituting visual, olfactory, auditory, and tactile attributes had high to very high acceptance scores , with the highest ratings for tactile attributes. Likewise, the market research revealed high to very high acceptance range ratings for overall liking, market acceptability, product acceptance, and consumer acceptance . The study underlines that fish skin waste has the potential for premium-grade leather development while demonstrating the efficacy of employing ’use waste as a resource’ strategy of the CE. This approach towards CE can be adopted by countries worldwide through incentive-based programs as it will be a win-win situation while directly linking with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).