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Although fish contains complete proteins and can be alternative for meat in the diet, fish consumption percapita is far lower than that of meat.
Edible fish are categorised as either fin fish or shell fish. The term fin fish refers to the fishes that have bony skeleton. Most fin fish come from salt water, however, great lakes and inland water add considerable amounts to the total catch. Edible shell fish are mainly salt water fish. Shell fish is used to designate both mollusks and crustaceans.
Shellfish are highly perishable. They are best when purchased directly from the fisherman. They may be expensive at shops in inland areas because of their very short storage life. The consumption and demand for shellfish, especially shrimps and prawns, has increased since frozen products became widely available.
Crustacea have legs with partly jointed outer shells. They include crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimps. The dense coarse flesh is found mainly in the claws and tail, e.g., in the lobster and crab. This flesh is not as digestible as other types of fish. Lobsters and crabs are best kept alive upto the point of their cooking or freezing, otherwise they deteriorate in quality in a matter of a day or less.
Mollusks have harder outer shells and no legs. They have hinged shells like oysters, scallops and mussels. Others have shells in one piece like snails, cockles and winkles.
Classification of fish is given in Figure.
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