A fish market is a

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

for selling

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

fish products Fish and fish products are consumed as food all over the world. With other seafoods, they provides the world's prime source of high-quality protein; 14–16 percent of the animal protein consumed worldwide. Over one billion people rely on fish a ...

. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

and fish

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

s, or to the sale of

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 ...

to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet market, often sell

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

as well. Fish markets range in size from small fish stalls to large ones such as the great

Tsukiji fish market is a major tourist attraction for both domestic and overseas visitors in Tokyo. Located in Tsukiji in central Tokyo between the Sumida River and the upmarket Ginza shopping district, the area contains retail markets, restaurants, and associ ...

in Tokyo, which turns over about 660,000 tonnes a year.Clover C (2008
''The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat''
Page 165. University of California Press, . The term ''fish market'' can also refer to the process of fish marketing in general, but this article is concerned with physical marketplaces. __TOC__

History and development

Jan Brueghel the Elder-Great Fish market

Fish markets were known in antiquity.Rauch JE and Casella A (2001
''Networks and markets''
Page 157. Russell Sage Foundation, . They served as a

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...

where large numbers of people could gather and discuss current events and local

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

Because seafood is quick to spoil, fish markets are historically most often found in seaside towns. Once

ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

or other simple cooling methods became available, some were also established in large inland cities that had good

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a singl ...

s to the coast. Kotka Market Hall 1950s

Since

refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...

and rapid

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

became available in the 19th and 20th century, fish markets can technically be established at any place. However, because modern trade

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

in general has shifted away from marketplaces and towards

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 ...

outlets, such as

supermarkets 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 ...

, most seafood worldwide is now sold to consumers through these venues, like most other

foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

s. Consequently, most major fish markets now mainly deal with wholesale trade, and the existing major fish retail markets continue to operate as much for traditional reasons as for commercial ones. Both types of fish markets are often

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

s as well.

Notable fish markets

The following is an incomplete list of notable fish markets. (See also a list of fish market articles.)

Operational markets

Toyosu Market The is a wholesale market in Tokyo, located in the Toyosu area of the Kōtō, Tokyo, Kōtō ward. There are two markets for seafood, one for general wholesale and one for bidding, and one market for fruits and vegetables, with each in its own bu ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, the world's largest fish market, replacing the former Tsukiji Market, have at least the same capacity but in up-to-date infrastructure. It opened on 11 October 2018, 5 days after Tsukiji closure (for transfer purpose). * La Nueva Viga Market,

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico; the world's second largest fish market. Marketing from 250,000 up to 550,000 tons of seafood a year. *

Sydney Fish Market The Sydney Fish Market is a fish market in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The market sits on the Blackwattle Bay foreshore in Pyrmont, New South Wales, Pyrmont, 2 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. It is the world's thi ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia the world's third largest fish market for volume sold and second largest in terms of variety. * Mercamadrid,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain; the world's fourth largest fish market, marketing about 220,000 tonnes a year. *

Billingsgate Fish Market Billingsgate Fish Market is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was originally established. In its original locati ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, United Kingdom. * Busan Cooperative Fish Market,

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. * Feskekôrka,

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden. *

Fulton Fish Market The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in Hunts Point, a section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and produce. In November 2005, the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. * Pike Place Fish Market,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, United States. * Maine Avenue Fish Market,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. * Aberdeen Seafood Market,

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. * Taipei Fish Market,

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Historical markets

, Japan, was the world's largest fish market, marketing about 660,000 tonnes a year. It closed on 6 October 2018 after 83 years of operation, with most activities moving to the new Toyosu Market. * Scania Market, a historical annual market at the Falsterbo Peninsula *

Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (), also known as the Huanan Seafood Market (''Huanan'' means 'South China') or simply the Wuhan Wet Market, was a live animal and fish market, seafood market in Jianghan District, Wuhan, the capital of ...

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It closed down on 1 January 2020, when it gained worldwide attention after being identified as a possible point of origin of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and the resulting

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

Notes

References

* Bellamy JC (1843
''The housekeeper's guide to the fish-market for each month of the year''
Issue 33171 of ''Goldsmiths'-Kress library of economic literature'', Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans. * Bestor TC (2004) '' Tsukiji: the fish market at the center of the world'' In PE Lilienthal, ''California studies'', Volume 11,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

,
See profile at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

* Le Blanch J (2003
The Global fish market and the need for multilateral fishing disciplines
In: Leonard B (ed) ''Overfishing: A Global Challenge'', Diane Publishing, . *Paula Mónaco Felipe (April 11, 2008). "La Nueva Viga, paseo marino en el DF fuera de las guías turísticas" a Nueva Viga, marine walk in the Federal District outside of tour guide books La Jornada (in Spanish) (Mexico City). Retrieved March 13, 2011. * Crother C (2005
''Catch!: A Fishmonger's Guide to Greatness''
Berrett-koehler Series, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, . * Graddy K (2006
"The Fulton fish market"
''Journal of Economic Perspectives'', 20(2): 207–220. * Kirman, Alan P. and Vriend, Nicolaas J. (2000
"Learning to be loyal: A study of the Marseille fish market"
In: Domenico Delli Gatti,

Mauro Gallegati Mauro Gallegati (born 8 March 1958) is an Italian New-Keynesian economist, scholar of agent-based economics, and professor at Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy. Biography After having earned his PhD in economics in 1989 at Marche ...

, Alan P. Kirman, ''Interaction and market structure: essays on heterogeneity in economics'', Volume 484. Springer, . * Maniatis GC (2000
"The Organizational Setup and Functioning of the Fish Market in Tenth-Century Constantinople"
''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', 54: 13–42. * Porcù Leide (2005
"Fishy business: Humor in a Sardinian fish market"
''International Journal of Humor Research'', 18(1): 69–102. * Sophie S and Håkan H (2009
"Behind the fish market facade"
''The IMP Journal'', 3(1): 50–74. * Sancar Seckiner's new book DZ Uzerine Notlar, published Dec. 2014, highlights historic connection between two important fish markets in the world :Billingsgate-Yenikapı. .

External links

*
Fish out of water: A guide to city fishmongers
''New York Magazine'', 10 April 1978. {{Retail Fisheries law Retailers by type of merchandise sold