Food fish
Caught and eaten around the world. 447 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
WorldRegal blue tang
Bright blue reef fish with a yellow tail and black markings.Reef fish · Coral reefs
WorldSix-line wrasse
Small violet reef fish with six orange stripesReef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1857
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreFrench angelfish
A slow-growing Caribbean reef fish known for its sponge diet.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1799
WorldBluespotted cornetfish
Long, slender reef fish with a tubular snout and blue spots.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
WorldGiant grouper
A massive Indo-Pacific reef fish and one of the largest bony species on Earth.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1790
🇦🇺 Australia and 4 moreLeopard coral grouper
A spotted reef predator prized for food across the Pacific.Perch-like · Coasts and shelves · 1802
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 4 moreHumphead wrasse
The largest reef-dwelling wrasse, known for its forehead hump and endangered status.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1801
WorldGreen humphead parrotfish
The largest parrotfish species, known for its massive head and role in reef bioerosion.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
🇮🇩 IndonesiaBanggai cardinalfish
A small, endangered marine fish from Indonesia known for its unique breeding habits and popularity in the aquarium tradeReef fish · Coasts and shelves
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRainbow parrotfish
Largest Atlantic parrotfish found on coral reefs and in mangroves.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
WorldQueen parrotfish
A colourful reef fish that turns coral into sandReef fish · Coasts and shelves
WorldConvict tang
Striped marine surgeonfish found across the Indo-Pacific.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1758
WorldParrotfish
Reef-dwelling wrasses with beak-like teeth that grind coral into sand.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
WorldWrasse
A large family of colourful marine fish known for sex change and cleaning symbiosis.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
WorldDamselfish
Small marine fish known for aggressive territorial behaviour and reef farming.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
WorldTriggerfish
Armoured reef fish with a locking dorsal spineReef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1810
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreRed lionfish
Venomous coral reef fish native to the Indo-Pacific and invasive in the Atlantic.Reef fish · Coral reefs · 1758
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreHogfish
A western Atlantic wrasse with a pig-like snout.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Regal blue tang: Tewy, CC BY 2.5, source
- Rohu: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Six-line wrasse: Lonnie Huffman, CC BY 3.0, source
- French angelfish: LASZLO ILYES (laszlo-photo), CC BY 2.0, source
- Bluespotted cornetfish: Matthias Kleine --> Mkleine, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Giant grouper: Ginkgo100, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Leopard coral grouper: portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Humphead wrasse: R Vasconcellos, CC BY 4.0, source
- Green humphead parrotfish: Rickard Zerpe, CC BY 2.0, source
- Banggai cardinalfish: jon hanson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rainbow parrotfish: Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble, CC BY 2.0, source
- Queen parrotfish: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lagoon triggerfish: Arpingstone, Public domain, source
- Convict tang: brian.gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Parrotfish: Rickard Zerpe, CC BY 2.0, source
- Wrasse: Leonard Low, CC BY 2.0, source
- Damselfish: Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Red lionfish: Photo by Jens Petersen , Edited by User:Olegiwit (cloned in part of fi, CC BY 2.5, source
- Hogfish: Albert Kok at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Peruvian anchoveta: Robbie N. Cada ., CC BY 3.0, source