Inland Fisheries

1.3.2. Most common freshwater fish species of the world

1. Ayu

The ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis), also known as ‘sweet fish’ in Japan and aroma fish in China, is an extremely popular and economically important freshwater food fish in many Asian countries. In the 21^st century, it is wild-caught in rivers by sport and commercial fishermen or raised commercially for both restaurant consumption and home use.

2. Carp

Carps (Cyprinus carpio) are the largest members of the minnow family. Although greatly underutilized in North America, the common carp has always been a widely popular freshwater food fish in the rest of the world. In the 21^st century, carps are wild-caught or grown for food in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, India, China, Japan, Latin America, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, and Israel, to name only the major consumer nations. The world's leading producer is China, where carps are often grown in rice paddies in rotation or even simultaneously.

3. Catfish

The channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), native to warm water lakes and rivers in North America, is a traditional food fish in the southern United States. Consumer demand has moved from regional to national and even international. In the United States, the per capita consumption of catfish is exceeded only by that of tuna, shrimp, pollack, and salmon. To satisfy American consumer demand, several hundred thousand metric tons of channel catfish are produced by aquaculture each year in the southern United States. Imported catfish from Vietnam has been marketed aggressively to restaurant chains and food service companies with considerable success. Another catfish species, the walking catfish, Clarias batrachus is a popular food fish in tropical regions and even in some European countries, especially the Netherlands. Catfish are traditionally wild-caught and marketed as iced whole dressed fish.

4. Eel

Although appreciated before the Civil War in North America, freshwater eels (primarily Anguilla anguilla and A. japonica) are a widely popular food item in Asian countries, particularly Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. Eels are also an important delicacy in Europe, particularly Italy, where they must be produced commercially by aquaculture to satisfy consumer demand. Overall, however, China produces more than 70 % of the eels sold in the world, and many rice paddies have been converted to eel production. Japan is the world's largest eel consumer. Eel consumption in North America is minor. However, freshwater eel, unagi is common in Japanese restaurants in the United States. In addition, each year many tons of market-sized eels are wild-caught by U.S. fishermen and exported to Europe.

5. Milkfish

Milkfish (Chanos chanos) have been an important food fish for people in Southeast Asia for many centuries. Although they are an oceanic fish, milkfish spawn in shallow coastal areas, where fry and fingerlings are collected in nets and carried to freshwater or brackish water ponds for rearing to market size. Milkfish have been raised in this fashion for at least seven hundred years in the Philippines and Indonesia. Taiwan is also a major producer. It is also exported frozen to North America.

6. Tilapia

Although relatively new to North American fish markets, tilapia are actually a group of fish (cichlid) that traces its origins to North Africa and the Middle East. Because of their versatility, tilapia have been nicknamed "the aquatic chicken". Only Chinese carp and salmon or trout exceed tilapia in total worldwide fish production. Although they are less popular in the United States, tilapia consumption has grown to rival trout among the commercially raised fish species. Since relatively modest numbers of tilapia are produced by U.S. aquaculture, large quantities of frozen fillets are imported from Indonesia, Taiwan, and Mexico to satisfy consumer demand.

7. Trout

Many trout species have historically been used for food, but rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have been by far the most popular. Originally native to cold water environments in the north temperate zone, this prized food fish has been transplanted around the world and is well established in North and South America, Japan, China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa. Top trout-producing countries include Chile, Denmark, France, Italy, and the United States.

8. Walleye pike

Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), a member of the perch family with an excellent reputation for its food quality, is a widely sought cool-water fish mostly caught by anglers for home use but also available in fish markets and restaurants in much of the northern United States and Canada. In the United States, a limited commercial harvest comes from the Great Lakes. However, most of the commercial harvest is from Canadian fishing on Lake Erie and the inland waters of Ontario and Saskatchewan. The walleye is Canada's most economically valuable freshwater fish.

9. Whitefish

Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) native to the deep cold lakes of North America are popular food fish in the United States and Canada. A large commercial fishery for whitefish exists in Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes of the midwestern United States. In Canada, close to 600,000 kilograms of whitefish a year is caught and sold by tribal fishermen of the Great Slave Lake alone. White-fish eggs, termed freshwater or golden caviar, are sometimes sold as a less-expensive substitute for sturgeon caviar.

10. Nile perch and Nile tilapia

At present, the Nile perch, Lates niloticus and one of the introduced tilapiine species, Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, form the basis of the fisheries of Lakes Victoria and Kyoga in Africa.

11. Clarias gariepinus

One of the commercially most important freshwater fishes in Africa. Caught with drawnets. The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 27,220 t. The countries with the largest catches were Mali (15,091t) and Nigeria (9,994t).

It has been imported for purposes of aquaculture and game fish. Marketed live, fresh and frozen; eaten broiled, fried and baked.