News
OceanSouth Korea’s Celebrity Shark Raises Bigger Questions About Climate Change And Ocean ConservationIndiaFrom pickles to fish farming: 3 farmers show how innovation can transform agricultureRiversEl Niño seen disrupting fish migration patternsSpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationFisheriesPrince William Sound reports lowest pink salmon harvest since the late 1970sOceanSouth Korea’s Celebrity Shark Raises Bigger Questions About Climate Change And Ocean ConservationIndiaFrom pickles to fish farming: 3 farmers show how innovation can transform agricultureRiversEl Niño seen disrupting fish migration patternsSpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationFisheriesPrince William Sound reports lowest pink salmon harvest since the late 1970s
EveryFish

Food fish

Caught and eaten around the world. 688 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

Atlantic codThe fish of fish and chips and bacalhauIlishThe hilsa of Bengali cookingRohuIndia's most eaten carpSkipjack tunaMost of the world's canned tunaAlaska pollockFish fingers, fillets and surimiPeruvian anchovetaThe largest single-species fisheryIndian mackerelAn everyday fish of India's coastsAtlantic herringPickled, smoked and salted in northern Europe

Further reading

GroupSharkRayCarpCatfishSalmonidHerringCodTunaPerch-likeCichlidReef fishEelFlatfishLivebearerAncientOther
WaterRivers and lakesEstuaries and mangrovesCoasts and shelvesCoral reefsOpen oceanDeep seaPolar and cold seasCaves and springsBetween sea and river
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest firstBy size
WorldQueen triggerfish Large, colourful reef fish of the tropical Atlantic.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1758 🇵🇭 Philippines and 4 moreMilkfish The sole living species of the family Chanidae, found across the Indo-Pacific.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreAyu sweetfish Small amphidromous fish prized for its sweet flesh in East Asia.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1846 Indian threadfin 🇵🇰 Pakistan and 2 moreIndian threadfin A large coastal fish with distinctive long fin filaments.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1804 WorldSpotted scat A spotted, square-bodied fish from Indo-Pacific estuaries.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1766 WorldGreater lizardfish A cigar-shaped predatory fish of the Indo-Pacific muddy bottoms.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldBigeye scad Tropical marine fish with large eyes and metallic blue skinOther · Coasts and shelves · 1793 WorldAtlantic wolffish A cold-water North Atlantic fish with crushing teeth and parental care.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1758 WorldWhite marlin A fast-swimming billfish of the Atlantic Ocean.Other · Open ocean · 1860 🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreAustralian ghostshark A cartilaginous fish native to southern Australia and New Zealand waters.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldBlue-spotted grouper A widely distributed Indo-Pacific grouper known for its blue spots and invasive impact in Hawaii.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldOriental sweetlips Striped reef fish with swollen lips found in the Indo-Pacific.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1758 WorldSeahorse Small marine fish with horse-like heads and curled tails in the genus Hippocampus.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreGar Ancient armored fish with lung-like swim bladders found in North American waters.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758 🇦🇴 Angola and 3 moreAtlantic mudskipper Semi-aquatic goby that walks on mudflats in West Africa.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1766 EuropeAtlantic horse mackerel Slender jack mackerel of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldAnglerfish Ray-finned fish using a modified dorsal fin ray as a lure to catch prey.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1829 🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreArgentinian silverside A large, adaptable silverside native to South America.Other · Rivers and lakes WorldWrasse A large family of colourful marine fish known for sex change and cleaning symbiosis.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves WorldPorcupinefish Spiny marine fish that inflate into a defensive sphere to deter predators.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldGoatfish Benthic fish with chin barbels found in tropical and temperate waters worldwide.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1758 WorldBigeye trevally A large marine fish found in tropical oceans, known for its nocturnal hunting and distinctive dark dorsal fin.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1825 WorldYellowstripe goatfish A small Indo-Pacific reef fish with yellow fins and shrimp-like taste.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldLongfin batfish A silver marine fish with elongated juvenile fins found across the Indo-Pacific.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldOrbicular batfish A round, silvery marine fish native to the Indo-Pacific.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldGreat barracuda Large predatory fish found in warm oceans worldwide.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreReef stonefish A highly venomous marine fish known for its rock-like camouflage and potent toxins.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1801 EuropeRabbit fish Deep-water cartilaginous fish with a rabbit-like headOther · Coasts and shelves WorldRoundscale spearfish Atlantic billfish often mistaken for white marlinOther · Open ocean · 1841 WorldMullet A worldwide family of coastal ray-finned fish known for their distinct dorsal fins and historical culinary value.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇹🇷 Turkey and 4 moreAnchovy Small, oily forage fish found in oceans and some rivers worldwide.Herring · Coasts and shelves WorldPomfret A family of scombriform fish found in oceans worldwide, valued as food.Other · Open ocean WorldStriped marlin Fast pelagic predator with blue stripesOther · Open ocean 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreEulachon A small anadromous smelt known for its high fat content and cultural importance in Pacific North America.Other · Rivers and lakes 🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreEuropean smelt Small coastal fish with a cucumber scentOther · Rivers and lakes WorldPacific sand lance Small forage fish of the North Pacific that burrows in sandOther · Coasts and shelves 🇺🇸 United StatesSpotted seatrout Estuarine drum fish of the US southeast coastOther · Estuaries and mangroves North AmericaAtlantic croaker Noisy marine fish of the western Atlantic coastOther · Coasts and shelves WorldBluefish Aggressive marine pelagic fish found in temperate and subtropical waters worldwide.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇺🇸 United StatesFlorida pompano A fast-growing marine fish prized for food and sport fishing.Other · Coasts and shelves WorldEscolar Deep-ocean fish with high oil content often mislabelled as tuna.Other · Coasts and shelves EuropeRed gurnard A bright red bottom-dwelling fish of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1758 🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreYellowtail amberjack Large pelagic fish of the Southern Hemisphere oceansOther · Coasts and shelves · 1833 WorldGreater amberjack Large predatory jack found in warm seas worldwide.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1810 🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreJapanese amberjack A prized jack fish native to the northwest Pacific Ocean.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLingcod A large predatory fish of the North American Pacific coast.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreEuropean hake A predatory demersal fish of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.Other · Coasts and shelves 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNorth Pacific hake A silver-gray marine fish found in the northeast Pacific Ocean, used for surimi production.Other · Coasts and shelves
More fish

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: the fish of the day, new pages on EveryFish, and the conferences and anniversaries of the week ahead.