Fish as a food describes the edible parts of
water-dwelling,
cold-blooded vertebrates with gills, as well as certain
other water-dwelling animals such as mollusks, crustaceans,
and shellfish.
There are over 27,000
species of
fish, making them the most diverse group of vertebrates.
However, only a small number of the total species are
commonly eaten. Fish are consumed as food all over the
world, but fresh fish are moreso in areas close to seas,
rivers, and lakes.
Common food fish
Some commonly harvested and eaten fish species include:
- Salmon
Cod
Anchovy
Carp
Tuna
Trout
Mackerel
Snapper
Dogfish
Tilapia
Preserving fish for market
Fish are highly perishable, and must be kept alive or
refrigerated or frozen soon after capture or harvest to
remain safe for human consumption. Fish are also commonly
preserved for long-term storage or wide distribution. Some
fish, such as salmon, tuna and herring are cooked and
canned, while desiccation (complete drying) is commonly used
to preserve some food fish, such as cod and partial drying
and salting is popular for the preservation of herring and
mackerel, among other fish.
Preparation for consumption
Fish can be prepared in a variety of ways, including raw,
baked, fried, grilled, and boiled. Fish may also be served
along side or in a dish with other foods, like
vegetables, or with various condiments.
Fishes1,
especially saltwater fishes, are high in
Omega 3 fatty acids, which are heart-friendly, and a regular
diet of fish is highly recommended. This is supposed to be
one of the major causes of reduced risk for cardiovascular
diseases in Eskimos. It has been suggested that the longer
lifespan of Japanese and Nordic populations may be partially
due to their higher consumption of seafood. The
Mediterranean diet is likewise based on a rich intake of
fish. Bangladeshis and Indian people from the states of West
Bengal, Orissa, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
usually like to keep fish in their daily menu of foods. In
India and Bangladesh fresh water fishes like Rohu and
saltwater fishes like Hilsa are quite popular. Iceland,
Japan and Portugal are the largest fish consumers per capita in
the world.
[1]
Is fish meat?
Some people do not consider fish to be meat like other
animal flesh. Some examples include fish eaters who consider
themselves vegetarians because they don't eat other kinds of
animal flesh (though this is highly controversial among
vegetarians), Catholics who ate fish on Fridays pre-Vatican
II when they were expected to fast from other forms of
flesh, and Muslims who keep halaal and Jews who keep kosher, neither of which treats fish the same as other
forms of animal flesh.
Footnotes
1: The word "fish" can refer to both an organism and a
species of fish (in addition to the meat of a fish). These
two meanings have different plurals; two organisms are "two
fish," while two species (like Rohu and Hilsa) are "two fishes." For more details on usage, see
the main Fish article.
External links