List of commercially important fish species

World capture fisheries and aquaculture production by species group

This is a list of aquatic animals that are harvested commercially in the greatest amounts, listed in order of tonnage per year (2012) by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Species listed here have an annual tonnage in excess of 160,000 tonnes.

This table includes mainly food fish species, but also listed are crustaceans (crabs and shrimps), cephalopods (squids and cuttlefishs), bivalves, and a reptile (softshell turtle).

Note that Oreochromis niloticus and Penaeus monodon appear twice, because substantial amounts are harvested from the wild as well as being extensively raised through aquaculture.

Summary

The 70 wild species shown in this table total 41,925,250 tonnes. Other wild species total 49,410,980 for a world total of 91,336,230 tonnes of wild, captured animals. ^[2]

The 31 cultivated species shown in this table total 45,252,999 tonnes. Other cultivated species total 21,380,254 tonnes for a world total of 66,633,253 tonnes of animals cultivated through aquaculture. ^[3]

Harvested aquatic animals by weight

Common name(s)	Binomial name	Image	Wild/ cultivated	Harvest in tonnes	Notes
Grass carp	Ctenopharyngodon idella		Cultivated	6,068,014	China is the major producer of the grass carp, which grows quickly and requires fairly little dietary protein. Low-cost feed such as grain processing and vegetable oil extraction by-products, terrestrial grass, and aquatic weeds, allows the grass carp to be produced cheaply. [4] This fish is mainly sold fresh, either in pieces or whole.
Peruvian anchoveta	Engraulis ringens		Wild	4,692,855
Silver carp	Hypophthalmichthys molitrix		Cultivated	4,189,578	A variety of Asian carp, widely cultivated with other aquaculture carp, but under pressure in its home range (China and eastern Siberia). Also called "flying fish", it is an invasive species in many countries. [5]
Common carp	Cyprinus carpio		Cultivated	3,791,913
Asari, Japanese littleneck, Manila clam, Filipino Venus, Japanese cockle, Japanese carpet shell	Venerupis philippinarum		Cultivated	3,785,311
Alaska pollock	Theragra chalcogramma		Wild	3,271,426	This species is often the main ingredient in the so-called crab sticks.
Nile tilapia	Oreochromis niloticus		Cultivated	3,197,330
Whiteleg shrimp	Penaeus vannamei		Cultivated	3,178,721
Bighead carp	Hypophthalmichthys nobilis		Cultivated	2,898,816
Skipjack tuna	Katsuwonus pelamis		Wild	2,795,339
Catla	Catla catla		Cultivated	2,761,022
Crucian carp	Carassius carassius		Cultivated	2,451,845
Atlantic salmon	Salmo salar		Cultivated	2,066,561	The wild Atlantic salmon fishery is commercially dead; after extensive habitat damage and overfishing, wild fish make up only 0.5% of the Atlantic salmon available in world fish markets. The rest are farmed, predominantly from aquaculture in Norway, Chile, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Faroe Islands, Russia and Tasmania in Australia.
Atlantic herring	Clupea harengus		Wild	1,849,969
Chub mackerel	Scomber japonicus		Wild	1,581,314
Rohu	Labeo rohita		Cultivated	1,555,546
Yellowfin tuna	Thunnus albacares		Wild	1,352,204
Japanese anchovy	Engraulis japonicus		Wild	1,296,383
Largehead hairtail	Trichiurus lepturus		Wild	1,235,373
Atlantic Cod	Gadus morhua		Wild	1,114,382
European pilchard	Sardina pilchardus		Wild	1,019,392
Capelin	Mallotus villosus		Wild	1,006,533
Jumbo flying squid	Dosidicus gigas		Wild	950,630
Milkfish	Chanos chanos		Cultivated	943,259
Atlantic mackerel	Scomber scombrus		Wild	910,697
Rainbow trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss		Cultivated	855,982
Giant tiger prawn Asian tiger shrimp	Penaeus monodon		Cultivated	855,055
Araucanian herring	Clupea bentincki		Wild	848,466
Chinese razor clam Agemaki clam	Sinonovacula constricta		Cultivated	720,466
Chinese mitten crab	Eriocheir sinensis		Cultivated	714,392
Wuchang bream	Megalobrama amblycephala		Cultivated	705,821
Pacific oyster Japanese oyster Miyagi oyster	Crassostrea gigas		Cultivated	608,688
Louisiana crawfish Red swamp crawfish	Procambarus clarkii		Cultivated	598,289
Akiami paste shrimp	Acetes japonicus		Wild	588,761	One of 14 species in the genus Acetes , this small, krill-like prawn is used to produce shrimp paste in South East Asia.
Gulf menhaden	Brevoortia patronus		Wild	578,693
Indian oil sardine	Sardinella longiceps		Wild	560,145
Black carp	Mylopharyngodon piceus		Cultivated	495,074
European anchovy	Engraulis encrasicolus		Wild	489,297
Northern snakehead	Channa argus		Cultivated	480,854
Pacific cod	Gadus macrocephalus		Wild	474,047
Pacific saury	Cololabis saira		Wild	460,961
Pacific herring	Clupea pallasii		Wild	451,457
Bigeye tuna	Thunnus obesus		Wild	450,546
Chilean jack mackerel	Trachurus murphyi		Wild	447,060
Yellow croaker	Larimichthys polyactis		Wild	437,613
Haddock	Melanogrammus aeglefinus		Wild	430,917
Gazami crab	Portunus trituberculatus		Wild	429,959
Amur catfish Japanese common catfish	Silurus asotus		Cultivated	413,350
European sprat	Sprattus sprattus		Wild	408,509
Pink salmon	Oncorhynchus gorbuscha		Wild	406,131
Mrigal carp	Cirrhinus mrigala		Cultivated	396,476
Channel catfish	Ictalurus punctatus		Cultivated	394,179	See also: Aquaculture of catfish
Blood cockle	Anadara granosa		Cultivated	391,574
Blue whiting	Micromesistius poutassou		Wild	378,794
Hilsa shad	Tenualosa ilisha		Wild	376,734
Daggertooth pike conger	Muraenesox cinereus		Wild	372,704
California pilchard	Sardinops caeruleus		Wild	364,386
Cape horse mackerel	Trachurus capensis		Wild	356,795
Pacific anchoveta	Cetengraulis mysticetus		Wild	352,945
Japanese flying squid	Todarodes pacificus		Wild	351,229
Argentine shortfin squid	Illex argentinus		Wild	340,622
Pollock	Pollachius virens		Wild	336,838
Chinese softshell turtle	Pelodiscus sinensis		Cultivated	335,535	This species is a significant part of China's aquaculture. According to the data obtained from 684 Chinese turtle farms, they sold over 91 million turtles of this species every year; considering that these farms represented less than half of the 1,499 registered turtle farms in China, the nationwide total could be over twice as high. [6]
Kawakawa	Euthynnus affinis		Wild	328,927
Indian mackerel	Rastrelliger kanagurta		Wild	325,612
Asian swamp eel	Monopterus albus		Cultivated	321,006
Yesso scallop	Patinopecten yessoensis		Wild	318,081
Argentine hake	Merluccius hubbsi		Wild	318,067
Northern prawn	Pandalus borealis		Wild	315,511
Short mackerel	Rastrelliger brachysoma		Wild	312,930
Southern rough shrimp	Trachysalambria curvirostris		Wild	308,257
Southern African anchovy	Engraulis capensis		Wild	307,606
Pond loach	Misgurnus anguillicaudatus		Cultivated	294,456
Iridescent shark	Pangasius hypophthalmus		Cultivated	285,089
Mandarin fish Chinese perch	Siniperca chuatsi		Cultivated	281,502
Nile perch	Lates niloticus		Wild	278,675
Round sardinella	Sardinella aurita		Wild	273,018
Japanese pilchard	Sardinops melanostictus		Wild	269,972
American sea scallop	Placopecten magellanicus		Wild	267,745
Bombay-duck	Harpadon nehereus		Wild	257,376
Yellowhead catfish Korean bullhead	Tachysurus fulvidraco		Cultivated	256,650
Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel	Scomberomorus commerson		Wild	256,469
Albacore	Thunnus alalunga		Wild	256,082
Madeiran sardinella	Sardinella maderensis		Wild	251,342
Bonga shad	Ethmalosa fimbriata		Wild	249,422
Silver cyprinid	Rastrineobola argentea		Wild	241,122
Nile tilapia	Oreochromis niloticus		Wild	235,003
Longtail tuna	Thunnus tonggol		Wild	234,427
Atlantic menhaden	Brevoortia tyrannus		Wild	224,404
Giant tiger prawn	Penaeus monodon		Wild	212,504
North Pacific hake	Merluccius productus		Wild	206,985
Atlantic horse mackerel	Trachurus trachurus		Wild	205,807
Japanese jack mackerel	Trachurus japonicus		Wild	202,816
Pacific thread herring	Opisthonema libertate		Wild	201,993	One of five species in the genus Opisthonema
Bigeye scad	Selar crumenophthalmus		Wild	200,617
Yellowstripe scad	Selaroides leptolepis		Wild	198,600
Chum salmon	Oncorhynchus keta		Wild	189,777
Antarctic krill	Euphausia superba		Wild	188,147
Blue swimming crab	Portunus pelagicus		Wild	180,119
Pacific sand lance Pacific sandlance	Ammodytes personatus		Wild	175,892	Mostly manufactured into oil and meal, but also used as food in Japan. [7]
Goldstripe sardinella	Sardinella gibbosa		Wild	161,839

See also

• Fish portal
• Crustaceans portal
• Marine life portal

• Aquatic animal  – Animal living mostly or entirely in water
• Freshwater fish  – Fish that mostly live in freshwater
• Marine biology  – Scientific study of ocean life
• Saltwater fish  – Fish that live all or much of their lives in seawater
• World fish production
• Fishing industry by country
• Seafood#Types of seafood
  • List of types of seafood

References

1. World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2025. 2025. doi:10.4060/cd4313en. ISBN   978-92-5-140174-3.
2. "Capture production by principal species in 2012" (PDF). Ftp.fao.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-18. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
3. "World aquaculture production of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, etc., by principal species in 2012" (PDF). Ftp.fao.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-18. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
4. "FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture". Fao.org. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
5. "Hypophthalmichthys molitrix". NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. US Geological Survey. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
6. Shi, Haitao; Parham, James F; Fan, Zhiyong; Hong, Meiling; Yin, Feng (2008-01-01), "Evidence for the massive scale of turtle farming in China", Oryx, vol. 42, Cambridge University Press, pp. 147–150, doi: 10.1017/S0030605308000562
7. "Ammodytes personatus Girard, 1856, Pacific sandlance". Fishbase.org. Retrieved 10 November 2014.