A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

. Fishmongers can be

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

rs or

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

ers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, merchandising and selling their product. In some countries modern

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s are replacing fishmongers who operate in shops or

fish market A fish market is a marketplace for selling Fish as food, fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between Fisherman, fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish ma ...

Worshipful Company of Fishmongers

The fishmongers

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

, one of the earliest guilds, was established in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

by a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

granted by

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

shortly after he became king in 1272. Partnership with foreigners was forbidden and the sale of fish was tightly controlled to ensure freshness and restrain profit, which was limited to one penny in the

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

. Nevertheless, the guild grew rich and, after Edward's victory over the Scots, was able to make a great show, including one thousand mounted

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. During the reign of Edward II, the political power of the fishmongers waned and

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

decreed that no fishmonger could become

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the city. This was soon rescinded and their wealth increased further so that, during the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

, the guild could provide £40 to the war against the French, this being a great sum at that time. The guild was then reformed by Great Charter as the ''Mystery of the Fishmongers of London''. They were given a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

over the buying and selling of fish and they regulated the catching of fish in the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

which teemed with fish such as

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

at that time. The guild still continues today as one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies.

Tools

The tools used by fishmongers include: *

Pliers Pliers are a hand tool used to hold objects firmly, possibly developed from tongs used to handle hot metal in Bronze Age Europe. They are also useful for bending and physically compressing a wide range of materials. Generally, pliers consi ...

to pull out pinbones * A fish scaler to remove scales * A filleting knife to cut away the flesh from the bones * Short strong knives for opening oysters and other shellfish * Protective gloves * A curved knife for gutting and removing

roe Roe, ( ) or hard roe, is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooking, c ...

Fishmongers in culture

In many countries, the fishwife was proverbial for her sharp tongue and outspokenness. In

Medieval France The Kingdom of France in the Middle Ages (roughly, from the 10th century to the middle of the 15th century) was marked by the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and West Francia (843–987); the expansion of royal control by the House of C ...

, the ones in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

were known for their special privilege of being able to speak frankly to the King himself, when he ventured into the marketplace, and voice criticism without fear of punishment. Molly Malone is a character from a popular Irish song about a young fishwife who tragically dies at a young age. Charles Fort in his book ''Lo!'' compiles the story of the Mad Fishmonger or "St. Fishmonger", which later may or may not appear in the ''Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy'' by

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

. St. Fishmonger allegedly caused crabs and periwinkles to fall from the sky. In the English translation of the

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

series, the village fishmonger is called Unhygienix. In the film '' The Beach'', the Island's chef has only fish as a source of meat, and is named Unhygienix in reference to the Asterix character. In

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

,'' some contend that the word ''fishmonger'' was a

euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

for a "fleshmonger," or

pimp Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

.Shaaber MA (1971
"Polonius as Fishmonger"
''Shakespeare Quarterly'', 22 (2).

Historic fishmongers

* Marretje Arents * Dolly Peel *

Dolly Pentreath Dorothy Pentreath ( 16 May 169226 December 1777) was a Cornish fishwife. She is one of the last known fluent speakers of the Cornish language. She is also often credited as the last known native speaker of Cornish, although sources support th ...

, the last native speaker of Cornish * Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

executed in 1927 following a controversial American trial * Muhammad Shahid Nazir * Jack Cullen, Irish fishmonger and tuba player

Gallery

File:Joachim Beuckelaer - Fish Market.jpg , A 16th-century Flemish fishmonger painted by Joachim Beuckelaer. File:Frans Snyders, The Fishmonger.JPG, ''The Fishmonger''. By Frans Snyders (1579–1657). File:Adriaen van Utrecht - A Fishmonger's Stall.jpg, ''Fishmonger's Stall'' by Adriaen van Utrecht (1599–1652). File:J L Wouters Fishmonger.jpg, ''The fishmonger'' by Jan Ludewick Wouters (1599-1663). File:Henry Herbert La Thangue - Crying Fish In Spain.jpg, ''Crying fish in Spain'' by Henry Herbert La Thangue (1859-1929). File:Gyula Derkovits, fish seller, 1930.jpg, ''Fish seller'', 1930. By Gyula Derkovits (1894-1934).

References

External links

Hamlet's Puns and Paradoxes
{{Authority control Food services occupations Fish products sales