This entry represents fish as a broad food category, encompassing a wide range of freshwater and saltwater species consumed as food. Fish is one of the most important animal protein sources globally, with thousands of species eaten across different cultures and cuisines.
Fish provides a variety of edible products beyond fillets and whole cooked fish. Roe (fish eggs) is eaten fresh, salted, or smoked across many cultures—from Japanese ikura to European caviar. Swim bladders are used in some Asian cuisines and in the production of isinglass (a clarifying agent). Fish bones are used for stock, and rendered fish fat has both culinary and traditional uses. In Indigenous food traditions of Alaska and northern North America, virtually every part of the fish is used.
This broad category is most relevant to traditional and Indigenous food systems where specific species identification varies by season, location, and availability, and where fish is processed and preserved as a general staple rather than as individually named species.
How it's produced
Fish are obtained through wild capture fishing and aquaculture (fish farming). Wild fishing methods range from small-scale line and net fishing to industrial trawling and purse seining. Aquaculture, which now supplies roughly half of all fish consumed globally, ranges from pond culture and rice-paddy fish farming to intensive offshore cage systems and land-based recirculating facilities.
Processing varies widely depending on the product. Fillets are cut from larger fish, while smaller species may be eaten whole. Roe is carefully extracted and often salt-cured. Traditional preservation methods include smoking, drying, salting, and fermenting—techniques that remain important in Indigenous and subsistence food systems.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for fish & seafood, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
Keeping it
Keep it: in the fridge on ice, use within 1 to 2 days.
In the fridge: 1–2 days.
Advice from Cubud’s own keeping notes — how to keep it, not a measured number.
What comes from this
Your household's take
One thumb per person, shared with your household — it steers what the wider-web shelf and the swap chips offer you. Tap again to take it back.
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