Food fish
Caught and eaten around the world. 78 fish on EveryFish so far.
Fish is one of the main foods of humanity. The Food and Agriculture Organization reckons that aquatic foods provide about 15 per cent of the animal protein people eat worldwide, and much more in coastal and island countries and in places such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and West Africa. Thousands of fish species are eaten, but a few dozen, such as anchovies, pollock, tunas, herrings, carps and tilapia, make up most of the catch.
Fish in Indian kitchens
Most Indians eat fish at least sometimes, and in Bengal, Odisha, Assam, the North-East, Kerala, Goa and the Konkan, fish is at the centre of everyday meals. Bengalis prize rohu and hilsa cooked in mustard. Kerala cooks sardine, mackerel and pearlspot with coconut and kokum. Goans eat fish curry and rice daily, and Mumbai's Kolis fry bombil and pomfret. Dried and fermented fish are basic foods in the North-East and along the coasts.
From catch to plate
Fish spoils quickly, so ice, cold chains, canning, freezing, drying, salting and smoking shape how it reaches people. A large share of the world's catch of small fish such as anchovies is turned into fish meal and oil for farmed fish and animals rather than eaten directly. Large predatory fish such as some tunas and swordfish can build up mercury, so health agencies give advice on how often to eat them. EveryFish describes these uses as practice and tradition, not health advice.
Famous food fish fish
Still to be written: Atlantic cod, Ilish, Skipjack tuna, Alaska pollock, Peruvian anchoveta, Indian mackerel, Atlantic herring.
Further reading
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreSea lamprey
A jawless, parasitic fish native to the Northern Hemisphere that attacks other fish.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇦🇺 AustraliaLungfish
Ancient freshwater fish that breathe air and have lobed fins.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇷🇺 RussiaSterlet
A small Eurasian sturgeon found in rivers flowing to the Black, Azov, and Caspian seas.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreLake sturgeon
A large, long-lived freshwater fish native to North America.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAtlantic sturgeon
A large anadromous fish native to the western Atlantic Ocean and its river systems.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreShortnose sturgeon
A small, endangered North American sturgeon with a short snout.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1818
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreKaluga
A massive semi-anadromous sturgeon from the Amur River basin hunted for caviar.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1872
🇺🇸 United StatesShovelnose sturgeon
Smallest North American freshwater sturgeon, known for its shovel-shaped snout and caviar production.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1820
🇺🇸 United StatesPallid sturgeon
An endangered North American sturgeon species native to the Missouri and Mississippi river basins.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1905
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreTropical gar
A small freshwater predator from Central America known for its armored scales and air-breathing ability.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreGar
Ancient armored fish with lung-like swim bladders found in North American waters.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇧🇯 Benin and 4 moreSaddled bichir
A large African freshwater fish with primitive lungs and multiple dorsal finlets.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1845
WorldLamprey
Jawless fish with a sucking mouth found in temperate waters worldwide.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇳🇬 NigeriaGymnarchus
African electric fish with a long dorsal fin used for swimming and sensing prey.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1829
🇺🇸 United StatesAmerican paddlefish
Ancient freshwater fish with a sensory snout and filter-feeding habits.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1792
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreArapaima
Large freshwater fish from the Amazon basin known for its size and air-breathing ability.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇸🇳 Senegal and 3 moreWest African lungfish
Air-breathing freshwater fish from AfricaAncient · Rivers and lakes
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreSiberian sturgeon
Large freshwater sturgeon native to Siberian riversAncient · 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
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese paddlefish
A giant freshwater predator from China that is now extinct.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1862
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePacific lamprey
An anadromous parasitic jawless fish found along the Pacific Rim.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1872
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sea lamprey: Fernando Losada Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rohu: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Sterlet: Karelj, Public domain, source
- Lake sturgeon: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain, source
- Lungfish: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Atlantic sturgeon: Jiaqian AirplaneFan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shortnose sturgeon: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kaluga: あおもりくま（Aomorikuma）, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shovelnose sturgeon: Kbh3rd, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pallid sturgeon: USFWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation, Public domain, source
- Tropical gar: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saddled bichir: Studdart, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lamprey: Tiit Hunt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gymnarchus: Wiki-Harfus ; modified by Wildfeuer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- American paddlefish: Timothy Knepp, Public domain, source
- Arapaima: This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / C, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- West African lungfish: Gőtehal.jpg : Mathae derivative work: Bff, CC BY 2.5, source
- Siberian sturgeon: This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / C, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marbled lungfish: George Berninger Jr., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese paddlefish: Muséum d'histoire Naturelle, Public domain, source
- Pacific lamprey: Dave Herasimtschuk, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Public domain, source