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Many species of fish are fishing by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Their meat has been an important dietary source of protein and other in the human diet.
The English language does not have a special culinary name for food prepared from fish like with other animals (as with pig vs. pork), or as in other languages (such as Spanish vs. ). In culinary and fishery contexts, fish may include so-called shellfish such as , , and ; but, more expansively, seafood covers both fish and other marine life used as food.
Since 1961, the average annual increase in global apparent food fish consumption (3.2 percent) has outpaced population growth (1.6 percent) and exceeded the increase in consumption of meat from all terrestrial animals except poultry (4.9 percent), both combined (2.8 percent) and individually (bovine, ovine, porcine, et cetera). In per capita terms, food fish consumption has grown from in 1961, to in 2015, at an average rate of about 1.5 percent per year. The expansion in consumption has been driven not only by increased production, but also by a combination of many other factors, including reduced wastage, better utilization, improved distribution channels and growing consumer demand, linked with population growth, rising disposable incomes and urbanization.
Europe, Japan and the United States together accounted for 47 percent of the world's total food fish consumption in 1961, but only about 20 percent in 2015. Of the global total of 149 million tonnes in 2015, Asia consumed more than two-thirds (106 million tonnes at 24.0 kg per capita), while Oceania and Africa consumed the lowest share. The shift is the result of structural changes in the sector, and the growing role of Asian countries in fish production in particular, as well as a significant gap between the economic growth rates of the world's more mature fish markets and those of many increasingly important emerging markets around the world, particularly in Asia.
The British historian William Radcliffe wrote in Fishing from the Earliest Times:
"The Emperor Domitian (Juvenal, IV.) ordered a special sitting of the Roman Senate to deliberate and advise on a matter of such grave State importance as the best method of cooking a turbot." Juvenal: The Satires Satire IV: Mock Epic, pages 25–29. Translated by A. S. Kline 2011.
Globally, fish and fish products provide an average of only about 34 calories per capita per day. However, more than as an energy source, the dietary contribution of fish is significant in terms of high-quality, easily digested animal proteins and especially in fighting micronutrient deficiencies. A portion of 150g of fish provides about 50 to 60 percent of an adult's daily protein requirement. Fish proteins are essential in the diet of some densely populated countries where the total protein intake is low, and are particularly important in diets in small island developing States (SIDS).
Intermediate Technology Publications wrote in 1992 that "Fish provides a good source of high quality protein and contains many vitamins and minerals. It may be classed as either whitefish, oily fish, or shellfish. Whitefish, such as haddock and seer, contain very little fat (usually less than 1%) whereas oily fish, such as sardines, contain between 10–25%. The latter, as a result of its high fat content, contain a range of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and essential fatty acids, all of which are vital for the healthy functioning of the body."Fellows Pp and Hampton A (Eds.) (1992) Fish and fish products Chapter 11 in: Small-scale food processing – A guide for appropriate equipment Intermediate Technology Publications, FAO, Rome. .
Many fish eat algae and other organisms that contain , which are defensive substances against predators. Biotoxins accumulated in fish/shellfish include , okadaic acid, , ciguatoxin and domoic acid. Except for ciguatoxine, high levels of these toxins are only found in shellfish. Both domoic acid and ciguatoxine can be deadly to humans; the others will only cause diarrhea, dizziness and a (temporary) feeling of claustrophobia.EOS magazine, July–August 2010
Shellfish are and, therefore, accumulate produced by microscopic , such as and , and cyanobacteria. There are four syndromes called shellfish poisoning which can result in humans, and from the ingestion of toxic shellfish. These are primarily associated with Bivalvia, such as , , and . Fish like anchovies can also concentrate toxins such as domoic acid. Domoic Acid Poisoning Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA. Retrieved 16 July 2012. If suspected, medical attention should be sought.
| + Fish and Shellfish poisoning | |||||
| Scombroid food poisoning | Skin flushing, throbbing headache, oral burning, abdominal cramps, nausea, diarrhea, palpitations, sense of unease, and, rarely, collapse or loss of vision. Symptoms occur usually within 10–30 minutes of ingesting spoiled fish. | Usually four to six hours | Histamine, possibly others | Oral anti-histamines | |
| Haff disease | Rhabdomyolysis, that is, a swelling and breakdown of skeletal muscle (with a risk of acute kidney failure) within 24 hours after consuming fish | A toxic cause is suspected but has not been proven | None known | ||
| Ichthyo- allyeinotoxism | Vivid auditory and visual hallucinations similar in some aspects to LSD. | Can last for several days |
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| Diarrheal | Diarrhea and possibly nausea, vomiting and cramps. | Symptoms usually set in within half an hour and last about a day | Okadaic acid, which inhibits intestinal cellular de-phosphorylation. | ||
| Neurotoxic | Vomiting and nausea and a variety of neurological symptoms such as slurred speech. Not fatal though it may require hospitalization. | or brevetoxin analogs | |||
| Paralytic | Includes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and Paresthesia sensations. Other symptoms also possible. | Occasionally fatal | Principal toxin saxitoxin | 4-Aminopyridine has been used in non-human animals. |
The toxins responsible for most shellfish and fish poisonings, including ciguatera and scombroid poisoning, are heat-resistant to the point where conventional cooking methods do not eliminate them.
| +Mercury/omega-3 levels ! Mercury level ! style="width:140px;" | Low < 0.04 ppm ! style="width:140px;" | Medium 0.04–0.40 ppm ! style="width:140px;" | High > 0.40 ppm |
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern for most people. However, certain seafood contains sufficient mercury to harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. The FDA makes three recommendations for child-bearing women and young children:
These recommendations are also advised when feeding fish and shellfish to young children, but in smaller portions.
Historically, fish that live all or part of their lives in fresh water were considered unsuitable for sashimi due to the possibility of parasites (see Sashimi article). Parasitic infections from freshwater fish are a serious problem in some parts of the world, particularly Southeast Asia. Fish that spend part of their life cycle in brackish or fresh water, like salmon (an anadromous coastalfish closely related to trout), are a particular problem. A study in Seattle, Washington showed that 100% of wild salmon had roundworm larvae capable of infecting people. In the same study fish farm-raised salmon did not have any roundworm larvae.
Parasite infection from raw fish is rare in the developed world (fewer than 40 cases per year in the United States), and involves mainly three kinds of parasites: Clonorchis sinensis (a trematode/fluke), Anisakis (a nematode/roundworm) and Diphyllobothrium (a cestode/tapeworm). Infection risk of Anisakis is particularly high in fish which may have lived in a river or estuary, such as salmon ( sa ke in Japanese cuisine) or mackerel ( sa ba in Japanese cuisine). Such parasite infections can generally be avoided by boiling, grilling, pickling, or deep-freezing. In Japan, it is common to eat raw salmon and ikura (roe), but these foods are frozen overnight prior to eating to prevent infections from parasites, particularly Anisakis.
A 1999 Meta-analysis combined data from five studies from western countries. The metastudy reported mortality ratios, where lower numbers indicated fewer deaths, for pescetarians to be 0.82, vegetarians to be 0.84, and occasional meat eaters to be 0.84. Regular meat eaters and vegans shared the highest mortality ratio of 1.00. However, the "lower mortality was due largely to the relatively low prevalence of smoking in these vegetarian cohorts".
Since fish is animal flesh, the Vegetarian Society has stated that vegetarian diets cannot contain fish.
Ichthys has become a symbol of Christianity since ancient times. In the New Testament Luke 24 – Jesus's eating of a fish and Jesus telling his disciples where to catch fish, before cooking it for them to eat. Seasonal religious prohibitions against eating meat do not usually include fish. For example, non-fish meat was forbidden during Lent and on all Fridays of the year in pre-Vatican II Catholicism, but fish was permitted (as were eggs). (See Fasting in Catholicism.) In Eastern Orthodoxy, fish is permitted on some fast days when other meat is forbidden, but stricter fast days also prohibit fish with spines, while permitting invertebrate seafood such as shrimp and , considering them "fish without blood".
Some Buddhism and Hinduism (Brahmins of West Bengal, Odisha and Saraswat Brahmins of the Konkan) abjure meat that is not fish. Muslim (halal) practice also treats fish differently from other animal foods, as it can be eaten without requiring the ritualistic slaughter that is prescribed for other halal animals.
There are taboos on eating fish among many upland Pastoralism and Farmer (and even some coastal peoples) inhabiting parts of southeastern Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, and northern Tanzania. This is sometimes referred to as the "Cushitic fish-taboo", as Cushitic speakers are believed to have been responsible for the introduction of fish avoidance to East Africa, though not all Cushitic groups avoid fish. The zone of the fish taboo roughly coincides with the area where Cushitic languages are spoken, and as a general rule, speakers of Nilo-Saharan and Semitic languages do not have this taboo, and indeed many are watermen. The few Bantu peoples and Nilotic peoples groups in East Africa that do practice fish avoidance also reside in areas where Cushites appear to have lived in earlier times. Within East Africa, the fish taboo is found no further than Tanzania. This is attributed to the local presence of the tsetse fly and in areas beyond, which likely acted as a barrier to further southern migrations by wandering pastoralists, the principal fish-avoiders. Zambia and Mozambique's Bantus were therefore spared subjugation by pastoral groups, and they consequently nearly all consume fish.
There is also another center of fish avoidance in Southern Africa, among mainly Bantu languages. It is not clear whether this disinclination developed independently or whether it was introduced. It is certain, however, that no avoidance of fish occurs among southern Africa's earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan. Nevertheless, since the Bantu of southern Africa also share various cultural traits with the pastoralists further north in East Africa, it is believed that, at an unknown date, the taboo against the consumption of fish was similarly introduced from East Africa by cattle-herding peoples who somehow managed to get their livestock past the aforementioned tsetse fly endemic regions.
Certain species of fish are also forbidden in Judaism such as the freshwater eel (Anguillidae) and all species of catfish. Although they live in water, they appear to have no fins or scales (except under a microscope) (see Leviticus 11:10–13). Sunni Muslim laws are more flexible in this and catfish and shark are generally seen as halal as they are special types of fish. Eel is generally considered permissible in the four Sunni madh'hab, but the Ja'fari jurisprudence followed by most Shia Muslims forbids it.
Many tribes of the Southwestern United States, including the Navajo people, Apache, and Zuni people, have a taboo against fish and other water-related animals, including waterfowl.
Mislabelling
When the ocean conservation organization Oceana examined over 1,200 seafood samples of seafood sold in the U.S. between 2010 and 2012, they found one-third were mislabelled. The highest rate of mislabelling occurred with snapper at 87 percent, followed by tuna at 57 percent.Warner K, Timme W, Lowell B and Hirshfield M (2013) Oceana Study Reveals Seafood Fraud Nationwide Oceana.
Persistent organic pollutants
If fish and shellfish inhabit Marine pollution, they can accumulate other toxic chemicals, particularly fat-soluble pollutants containing chlorine or bromine, dioxins or PCBs.
Parasites
in fish are a common natural occurrence. Though not a health concern in thoroughly cooked fish, parasites are a concern when consumers eat raw or lightly preserved fish such as sashimi, sushi, ceviche and gravlax. The popularity of such raw fish dishes makes it important for consumers to be aware of this risk. Raw fish should be frozen to an internal temperature of for at least 7 days to kill parasites; home may not be cold enough. Vaughn M. Sushi and Sashimi Safety
Pescetarianism
The neologism "Pescetarianism" covers those who eat fish and other seafood, but not mammals and birds.The Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the origin of the term pescetarian to 1993 and defines it as "one whose diet includes fish but no other meat". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. s.v. pescatarian.[Online] Merriam-Webster. Available at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pescatarian [Accessed 17 July 2009]
In religion
Religious rites and rituals regarding food also tend to classify the birds of the air and the fish of the sea separately from land-bound mammals.Regensteinn J M and Regensteinn C E (2000) "Religious food laws and the seafood industry" In: R E Martin, E P Carter, G J Flick Jr and L M Davis (Eds) (2000) Marine and freshwater products handbook, CRC Press. . Sea-bound mammals are often treated as fish under religious laws – as in Jewish dietary law, which forbids the eating of cetacean meat, such as whale, dolphin or porpoise, because they are not "fish with fins and scales"; nor, as mammals, do they chew their cud and have cloven hooves, as required by . Jewish (Kashrut) practice treats fish differently from other animal foods. The distinction between fish and "meat" is codified by the Jewish dietary law of kashrut, regarding the mixing of milk and meat, which does not forbid the mixing of milk and fish. Modern Jewish legal practice ( halakha) on kashrut classifies the flesh of both mammals and birds as "meat"; fish are considered to be parve, neither meat nor a dairy food. (The preceding portion refers only to the halakha of Ashkenazi Jews; Sephardic Jews do not mix fish with dairy.) Fish has traditionally been a significant Shabbat dish, as noted by the 1st century Roman satirist Persius and reflected in Talmud accounts that describe the efforts of the poor to obtain fish for Shabbat and festivals.
Environmental impact of fish consumption
Taboos on eating fish
Among the Somali people, most clans have a taboo against the consumption of fish, and do not intermarry with the few occupational clans that do eat it.Frederick J. Simoons, Northwest Ethiopia: peoples and economy?, (University of Wisconsin Press: 1960), p.158Frederick J. Simoons, Eat not this flesh: food avoidances from prehistory to the present, 1994, p. 261–265, Google Books
Dishes
See also
Bibliography
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on 2007-09-17.
External links
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