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. 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
WorldDogtooth tuna A large Indo-Pacific bonito prized by sport anglers.Tuna · Coasts and shelves 🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreAtlantic mackerel Fast-swimming, oily fish of the North AtlanticTuna · Coasts and shelves · 1758 WorldBullet tuna Small, slender tuna found in tropical oceans worldwide.Tuna · Open ocean WorldBlue mackerel A small, fast pelagic fish found in tropical Indo-Pacific waters.Tuna · Coasts and shelves Bonito WorldBonito Medium-sized predatory fish in the mackerel and tuna familyTuna · Coasts and shelves WorldLongtail tuna A slender tropical tuna of the Indo-West Pacific.Tuna · Coasts and shelves WorldLittle tunny A fast, coastal tuna of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1810 WorldAtlantic bonito A mackerel-like game fish of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.Tuna · Coasts and shelves 🇺🇸 United States and 3 morePacific bonito Striped marine fish of the Pacific coastTuna · Coasts and shelves Latin America and the CaribbeanSerra Spanish mackerel A western Atlantic mackerel species often confused with its northern cousin.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1978 WorldCero A spotted and striped Spanish mackerel of the western Atlantic.Tuna · Coasts and shelves Australian spotted mackerel 🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreAustralian spotted mackerel A large coastal mackerel from northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1980 WorldAtlantic chub mackerel A small, silvery mackerel found in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.Tuna · Coasts and shelves 🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreSnoek A long, thin snake mackerel found in the Southern Hemisphere seas.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1791 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreJapanese jack mackerel A silver coastal fish prized in East Asian cuisine.Tuna · Coasts and shelves 🇨🇱 Chile and 3 moreChilean jack mackerel A pelagic fish vital to global fisheries and salmon feed.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1920 WorldKawakawa A small, striped tuna of the Indo-Pacific reefs and coasts.Tuna · Coasts and shelves WorldChub mackerel A widely distributed pelagic fish in the Scombridae family, known for its schooling habits and commercial value.Tuna · Coasts and shelves 🇦🇺 Australia and 4 moreNarrow-barred Spanish mackerel Large Indo-Pacific mackerel with narrow vertical barsTuna · Coasts and shelves 🇰🇷 South Korea and 2 moreJapanese Spanish mackerel A large mackerel species found in East Asian waters.Tuna · Coasts and shelves WorldTuna A group of fast-swimming saltwater fish known for their speed and commercial importance.Tuna · Open ocean WorldAlbacore A large, long-finned tuna species known for its white meat and global distribution.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1788 WorldMackerel A group of pelagic fish known for their speed, stripes, and role in global fisheries.Tuna · Open ocean 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreKing mackerel A large, fast-swimming predatory fish of the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.Tuna · Coasts and shelves WorldAtlantic bluefin tuna Large, warm-blooded tuna of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.Tuna · Open ocean · 1758 WorldYellowfin tuna Fast tropical tuna with bright yellow finsTuna · Open ocean 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAtlantic Spanish mackerel Migratory mackerel with yellow spots found in the Gulf and Atlantic.Tuna · Coasts and shelves 🇲🇻 Maldives and 4 moreSkipjack tuna A fast-swimming tropical tuna vital to global fisheries.Tuna · Open ocean South AsiaStreaked Spanish mackerel A striped mackerel of the Indian Ocean coastsTuna · Coasts and shelves · 1829 WorldPacific bluefin tuna Large migratory tuna of the northern Pacific OceanTuna · Open ocean 🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreShort mackerel A small silver mackerel vital to Southeast Asian fisheries and cuisine.Tuna · Coasts and shelves · 1851 WorldWahoo Fast tropical game fish with blue barsTuna · Open ocean 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBlackfin tuna The smallest species of tuna, found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.Tuna · Coasts and shelves WorldIndian mackerel A coastal food fish of the Indian and Pacific oceans.Tuna · Coasts and shelves Indo-Pacific king mackerel 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreIndo-Pacific king mackerel A prized spotted mackerel of the Indian Ocean.Tuna · 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.