Least concern
Widespread and not thought to be at risk. 122 fish on EveryFish so far.
Least Concern is the IUCN Red List category for species that have been assessed and are not close to qualifying as threatened. They are usually widespread and abundant. Many important food fish are in this category, including hilsa, rohu, skipjack tuna and Atlantic herring. Least Concern describes a species as a whole, worldwide; it does not mean that every local stock is healthy or well managed.
Common, not always safe
A fish can be Least Concern globally while particular populations are in trouble. Hilsa is widespread across the Bay of Bengal and its rivers, but its runs up the Ganges collapsed after the Farakka Barrage. Rohu and catla are abundant because they are farmed in huge numbers, while wild river stocks have declined. Herring stocks have crashed and recovered in different seas over the past century. Fisheries are managed stock by stock, so local assessments matter as much as the global category.
Back from the brink
Some fish have moved into Least Concern after recovering. The Atlantic bluefin tuna was listed as Endangered in 2011 after decades of overfishing; strict quotas set by the Atlantic tuna commission, ICCAT, and better enforcement let stocks recover, and in 2021 it was reassessed as Least Concern. Yellowfin tuna was moved from Near Threatened to Least Concern in the same update, though scientists warn that yellowfin in the Indian Ocean is still overfished.
Famous least concern fish
Still to be written: Ilish, Catla, Indian mackerel, Skipjack tuna, Atlantic bluefin tuna, Yellowfin tuna, Atlantic herring.
Further reading
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreNile tilapia
A hardy cichlid farmed globally for food.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreRohu
A large silver carp from South Asian rivers, farmed for food and prized as a game fish.Carp · Rivers and lakes
WorldNile perch
Large freshwater predator native to Africa, now invasive in many lakes.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇬 Uganda and 2 moreSilver cyprinid
A small pelagic fish from Lake Victoria that supports regional food security.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇬 UgandaNangnang fish
A small freshwater fish from the Nile basin, prized as a fried snack in Uganda.Other · Rivers and lakes
WorldSnakehead
Elongated freshwater predators with air-breathing organs found in Asia and Africa.Other · Rivers and lakes
Southeast AsiaGiant snakehead
A large freshwater predator from Southeast Asia known for air breathing and invasive potential.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇦🇴 Angola and 3 moreMarbled lungfish
African lungfish with the largest known animal genome, found in East and Central Africa.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreAsian swamp eel
A freshwater, air-breathing fish native to Asia and introduced elsewhere.Eel · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreMosquitofish
Small North American fish introduced globally for mosquito control.Livebearer · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United StatesEastern mosquitofish
A small livebearing fish native to the eastern US, now invasive in many regions.Livebearer · Rivers and lakes · 1859
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreRed-bellied Pacu
A large South American freshwater fish related to piranhas, farmed for food and kept in aquariums.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 moreCardinal tetra
Small freshwater fish with a bright red belly and iridescent blue stripe.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1956
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Nile tilapia: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rohu: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Nile perch: Pavel Zuber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Silver cyprinid: Boulenger, George Albert; Loat, L., Public domain, source
- Nangnang fish: Africalli, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Snakehead: Sir Francis Day, Public domain, source
- Giant snakehead: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
- Marbled lungfish: George Berninger Jr., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Asian swamp eel: Leo G. Nico, USGS, Gainesville, FL, Public domain, source
- Mosquitofish: NOZO, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Eastern mosquitofish: JeffreyGammon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Red-bellied Pacu: Omnitarian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cardinal tetra: Unknown author, Attribution, source