Fish as food
Fish and other aquatic animals are eaten fresh or preserved, whole or processed into products such as fillets, dried fish, and fish sauce.
Seafood: Edible marine and freshwater animals, including fish, shellfish, and cephalopods. The broader food category includes fish alongside other aquatic animals.
Fish spoilage: The deterioration of fish caused by enzymes, microorganisms, and chemical reactions after death. These processes determine how quickly fresh fish becomes unacceptable or unsafe.
Overfishing: Fishing at a rate that reduces a population faster than it can replenish itself. Food demand can drive catches beyond the capacity of fish populations to recover.
Plant-based fish substitute: A food designed to imitate fish using ingredients derived primarily from plants. These products offer fish-like meals without animal-derived fish.
Fish processing: The handling and transformation of fish into foods such as fillets, canned fish, and fishmeal. Processing turns catches into forms suited to storage, trade, and cooking.
Cold chain: A temperature-controlled supply network that keeps perishable goods chilled or frozen from production to use. Maintaining low temperatures slows the deterioration of fish after capture.
Fisheries management: The regulation and stewardship of fisheries to meet social and economic goals while sustaining fish populations. Rules on catches and access shape which fish remain available as food.
Fish alternative protein: Protein foods made without conventional captured or farmed fish, including plant-based and cultivated products. Alternative proteins address demand for fish while changing how the food is produced.
Fish preservation: Methods that slow spoilage in fish, including chilling, freezing, drying, salting, and smoking. Preservation extends the usable life of highly perishable fish.
Histamine poisoning: An illness caused by eating fish containing high levels of histamine formed during improper storage. Temperature abuse can allow histamine-producing bacteria to make some fish hazardous.