Seafood

Seafood refers to any edible sea life that humans eat, mainly fish and shellfish. Shellfish includes molluscs like clams, oysters, mussels, octopus, and squid; crustaceans such as shrimp, crabs, and lobster; and echinoderms like sea cucumbers and sea urchins. In the past, marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and seals were also eaten, though this is less common today. Edible sea plants, including certain seaweeds and microalgae, are widely consumed as sea vegetables, especially in Asia.

Seafood is a key source of animal protein for many people worldwide, particularly those living near coasts. People who eat seafood as their only meat are called pescetarians. Wild seafood is caught through fishing or hunting, while farmed seafood is produced via aquaculture or fish farming. Most of the harvest goes to human consumption, but a significant portion is used as feed for farmed fish or livestock. Some seafood, like kelp, serves as fertilizer for plants. Seafood also yields products such as fish oil, spirulina tablets, fish collagen, and chitin. A small amount is used in pet food for aquarium fish or domestic cats, and an even smaller portion goes into medicine or industrial items like leather, chewing gum, skin blankets, spare teeth for sheep, and other nonfood uses.

The practice of harvesting, processing, and eating seafood is ancient, with archaeological evidence stretching back to the Paleolithic. At Pinnacle Point in South Africa, remains show that modern humans gathered marine life as early as 165,000 years ago. Around the same time, Neanderthals along the Mediterranean coast also ate seafood. Isotopic analysis of a 40,000-year-old human skeleton from eastern Asia, known as Tianyuan man, indicates he regularly ate freshwater fish. Shell middens, fish bones, and cave paintings confirm that seafood was vital for survival and consumed in large quantities. Early permanent settlements, such as those at Lepenski Vir, were often linked to fishing as a major food source.

In ancient Egypt, the Nile provided abundant fish, which were eaten fresh or dried as a staple. Egyptian tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus documents show fishing tools and methods, and some suggest fishing was also a leisure activity. Greek culture rarely depicted fishing in art, reflecting its low social status, but the author Oppian of Corycus wrote a major treatise on sea fishing, the *Halieulica*, composed between 177 and 180—the earliest surviving work of its kind. Fish consumption varied by wealth and location. On Greek islands and coasts, fresh fish and seafood like squid, octopus, and shellfish were common, often transported inland. Sardines and anchovies were regular fare in Athens, sold fresh or salted. A 3rd-century BCE stele from Akraiphia lists fish prices: skaren (likely parrotfish) was cheapest, while Atlantic bluefin tuna cost three times as much. Common saltwater fish included yellowfin tuna, red mullet, ray, swordfish, and sturgeon (a delicacy eaten salted). Lake Copais was famous for its eels, celebrated in *The Acharnians*. Other freshwater fish were pike, carp, and the less popular catfish.

Roman fishing is known from mosaics. At one time, the goatfish was considered a luxury, prized because its scales turn bright red when it dies out of water; these fish were sometimes allowed to die slowly at the table, even in a sauce called garum. By the early Imperial era, this custom ended, and in the *Satyricon*, the dying goatfish appears as a tacky display by a social climber. In medieval times, seafood was less prestigious than other meats and often served as a substitute on fast days, though it remained a staple for coastal populations. Kippers from North Sea herring reached markets as far as Constantinople. Much fish was eaten fresh, but large amounts were salted, dried, or smoked. Stockfish—cod split, hung on a pole, and dried—was common, though preparing it required beating the dried fish with a mallet and soaking it. Coastal and river communities ate a wide range of mollusks, including oysters, mussels, and scallops, and freshwater crayfish was a desirable alternative to meat on fish days. Compared to meat, fish was considerably more expensive.