News
SpeciesScientists 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 ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaIndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliamentSpeciesScientists 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 ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaIndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliament
EveryFish

Food fish

Caught and eaten around the world. 681 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 fisheryAtlantic herringPickled, smoked and salted in northern Europe

Still to be written: Indian mackerel.

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
WorldCowtail stingray Large Indo-Pacific stingray with a distinctive tail fold.Ray · Rivers and lakes WorldSawfish Large rays with a toothed rostrum found in tropical coastal waters.Ray · Coasts and shelves 🇹🇭 Thailand and 3 moreGiant freshwater stingray The widest freshwater fish in the world, found in Southeast Asian rivers.Ray · Rivers and lakes · 1852 🇦🇺 Australia and 4 moreLargetooth sawfish A critically endangered ray with a toothed rostrum that enters rivers.Ray · Rivers and lakes 🇦🇺 Australia and 4 moreNarrow sawfish A rare ray with a toothed snout found in Indo-Pacific waters.Ray · Coasts and shelves 🇦🇺 Australia and 4 moreLongcomb sawfish A critically endangered sawfish with a toothed rostrum.Ray · Coasts and shelves WorldStingray A diverse group of cartilaginous rays with venomous tail spines.Ray · Coasts and shelves

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.