Food fish
Caught and eaten around the world. 544 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, Indian mackerel, Atlantic herring.
Further reading
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAlewife
A small North American herring that migrates between sea and rivers.Herring · Coasts and shelves
🇹🇷 Turkey and 4 moreAnchovy
Small, oily forage fish found in oceans and some rivers worldwide.Herring · Coasts and shelves
🇺🇸 United StatesAtlantic menhaden
A silvery herring species found along the North American Atlantic coast.Herring · Coasts and shelves
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreGulf menhaden
Small filter-feeding fish of the Gulf of MexicoHerring · Coasts and shelves
🇮🇪 IrelandTwait shad
Anadromous herring-like fish with flank spotsHerring · Rivers and lakes
EuropeAllis shad
Anadromous Atlantic fish with a dark gill spot.Herring · Rivers and lakes
WorldSpotted sardinella
A small herring with golden spots found in the Indo-Pacific.Herring · Coasts and shelves
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreJapanese anchovy
Small schooling fish of the northwest PacificHerring · Coasts and shelves
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 morePeruvian anchoveta
Small Pacific fish vital for fishmeal and growing food useHerring · Coasts and shelves
WorldBloch's gizzard shad
Small anadromous fish found across the Indo-West Pacific.Herring · Rivers and lakes · 1795
WorldIndian anchovy
Small schooling fish used for food and bait in the Indo-Pacific.Herring · Coasts and shelves
🇲🇦 Morocco and 2 moreEuropean pilchard
Small schooling fish of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.Herring · Coasts and shelves
🇹🇷 Turkey and 4 moreEuropean anchovy
Small coastal forage fish of Europe and AfricaHerring · Coasts and shelves · 1758
Southeast AsiaWhite sardine
Small tropical clupeid fish of the Indo-Pacific.Herring · Coasts and shelves · 1847
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 4 moreToli shad
A prized shad of the Indian and Pacific coastsHerring · Rivers and lakes
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Rohu: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Alewife: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Anchovy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Atlantic menhaden: ricofish, CC0, source
- Gulf menhaden: Joel boumje, Public domain, source
- Twait shad: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Allis shad: Krüger, Public domain, source
- Spotted sardinella: Gihan Jayaweera, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Japanese anchovy: Kingfisher, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Peruvian anchoveta: Robbie N. Cada ., CC BY 3.0, source
- Bloch's gizzard shad: C. Achilles, Public domain, source
- Indian anchovy: Xavier Romero-Frias, CC BY 3.0, source
- European pilchard: Gervais et Boulart, Public domain, source
- European anchovy: duarte, CC BY 4.0, source
- White sardine: Hariprasad Shetty10, CC0, source
- Toli shad: BEDO (Thailand), CC BY-SA 4.0, source