Rough fish (or the slang trash fish or dirt fish) is a term used by some

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

state agencies and anglers to describe

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

that are less desirable to sport anglers within a defined region. The term usually refers to larger

game fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commercial ...

species that are not commonly eaten, are too rare to be commonly encountered, or are not favorably sought by anglers for sporting purposes. Many of these species are actually very important in the

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must oft ...

industry, where they make up the bulk of commercial food fish catches in inland

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

bodies Bodies may refer to: * The plural of body * ''Bodies'' (2004 TV series), BBC television programme * Bodies (upcoming TV series), an upcoming British crime thriller limited series * "Bodies" (''Law & Order''), 2003 episode of ''Law & Order'' * B ...

.Carlander HB (1954
''A history of fish and fishing in the upper Mississippi River''
Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, University of California.

Etymology

The first reference to the term "rough" as applied to fish species is in the historical work ''A History of Fish and Fishing on the Upper Mississippi River'' by Carlander. To summarize: In the mid-to-late

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

, commercial fishermen in the

Central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern and Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the U.S. Census' definition of the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions o ...

, particularly in the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

, often netted and processed large quantities of river fish in their

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

s, and would then travel many miles up or down river to deliver these fish to markets for sale. In hot summer weather, the slow, heavily loaded boats often had to be lightened quickly to ensure that the entire catch did not become spoiled before reaching the markets. The common practice of the time was to save the fully processed fish, since these commanded a higher price at market. Rough-dressed fish (or fish sold "in the rough" — which means they had the internal organs removed but were not yet filleted) were discarded by dumping the carcasses into the river to lighten the boat. Thus, originally a "rough fish" was a fish of any species that had been only partly processed and which could not be sold for full price. The term subsequently evolved into a derogatory term for any fish that was undesirable or unpopular.

Usage variations

The term " coarse fish" is used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

to describe all fishes besides

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

and

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...

, but it is not a derogatory term. The

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, rec ...

has made preliminary efforts to replace the term "rough fish" with "underused fish", like some other state agencies have actually done, but this has remained an incomplete effort in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

Subjectivity of definition

There is no standard list of rough fishes. A fish that is considered "rough" in one region may be considered a desirable game and food fish in another, often due to cultural differences or simply regional tradition. For example, the

common carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

is considered an undesirable rough fish in the

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, but is the premier game fish of

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

and the single most important food fish across most of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Further, some rough fish become game fish (and vice versa) over time, as different angling methods, sporting opportunities (e.g. modernized

bowfishing Bowfishing is a method of hunting fish that uses specialized archery equipment to lethally shoot and retrieve the animal. Fish are shot with a barbed arrow that is attached with a special line to a reel mounted on a bow or crossbow. Historically ...

) and new ways to prepare, cook and consume the fish evolve. In the U.S., the

longnose gar The longnose gar (''Lepisosteus osseus''), also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gar ...

is considered a rough fish and undesirable

nuisance Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means that which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "common") ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, but in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

it is considered a desirable food fish. Due to the many small bones, it is rarely filleted; instead, the meat is usually

minced Mincing is a food preparation technique in which food ingredients are finely divided into uniform pieces. Minced food is in smaller pieces than diced or chopped foods, and is often prepared with a chef's knife or food processor, or in the case ...

and rolled with

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, salts, and/or sugar, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". ...

s into " gar balls" to be fried as

meatball A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many type ...

Native vs. exotic

Many US state agencies use "rough fish" as a catch-all term to combine both unappreciated native fish species with problematic

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

. This creates confusion about the

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

of species native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. For example, some "rough fishes" are exotic species that have been introduced into North American waters from other continents either intentionally or unintentionally (e.g. the

bighead carp The bighead carp (''Hypophthalmichthys nobilis'') is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish native to East Asia, and is one of several Asian carps introduced into North America. It is one of the most intensively exploited fishes in fish farming, ...

silver carp The silver carp (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to China and eastern Siberia, from the Amur River drainage in the north to the Xi Jiang River drainage in the south. Alt ...

grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russi ...

, snakehead), that have established

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

foothold in the new habitats. Other "rough fishes" are native species that can be confused with Asian carps because they look superficially similar (

bigmouth buffalo Bigmouth may refer to: * "Bigmouth", a song by Underworld * Bigmouth, an ogre in ''The Smurfs'' comics and animated cartoon series Marine life * Bigmouth buffalo, fish * Bigmouth goby, fish * Bigmouth skate, fish * Bigmouth rocksnail, snai ...

smallmouth buffalo The smallmouth buffalo (''Ictiobus bubalus'', from the Greek for "bull-fish" and "buffalo") is a catostomid fish species native to the major tributaries and surrounding waters of the Mississippi River in the United States, as well as some other ...

and suckers). Because in many states all of these native fish are lumped together as "rough" along with invasive species, the public is quick to label and treat them all as invasive "carp". Still other rough fishes are native fishes completely unlike carp, but are categorized as such because they are underused or unpopular.Rob Buffler and Tom Dickson (1990) ''Fishing for Buffalo: A Guide to the Pursuit, Lore & Cuisine of Buffalo, Carp, Mooneye, Gar, and other "Rough" Fish'' Culpepper Press, Minneapolis In North America native "rough fish" such as suckers have historically been scapegoated for human environmental destruction and its impacts on popular fish species such as

Pacific salmon ''Oncorhynchus'' is a genus of fish in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific salmon and Pacific trout. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek ὄγκος (ónkos, “lump, bend”) + ῥύγχος (rhúnkhos, “snout”), i ...

and smallmouth bass. They have also been seen by some fisheries managers as inferior to introduced species such as

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...

for aesthetic reasons.

Prospects

Many rough fish species are federally recognized as endangered, threatened, candidate or species of concern. Because these native American fishes have limited and declining populations and are at risk of extinction, they are listed under the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

. Some rough fishes listed by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

are: *Blue sucker (''

Cycleptus elongatus The blue sucker (''Cycleptus elongatus'') is a long-lived freshwater species of fish in the sucker family that is of conservation concern. The species has an average weight of 2-3 kilograms and an average length of 76 centimeters. The record leng ...

'') *Razorback sucker ('' Xyrauchen texanus'') *Robust redhorse ('' Moxostoma robustum'') *Cui-ui ('' Chasmistes cujus'') *Gray redhorse (''

Moxostoma congestum The gray redhorse (''Moxostoma congestum'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. ...

'') *Sicklefin redhorse ( Moxostoma spp.) *Shortnose sucker ('' Chasmistes brevirostris'') *Flannelmouth sucker ('' Catostomus latipinnis'') *Greater redhorse ('' Moxostoma valenciennesi'')ESA Listing for Greater redhorse (Moxostoma valenciennesi)
/ref> *Colorado squawfish (

pikeminnow Pikeminnows, formerly squawfish, are cyprinid fish of the genus ''Ptychocheilus'' consisting of four species native to western North America. Voracious predators, they are considered an "undesirable" species in many waters, largely due to the spe ...

s - ''Ptychocheilus'' spp.) * Roundtail chub (''Gila robusta'') * Humpback chub (''Gila cypha'') * Bonytail chub (''Gila elegans'')

References

Sources

* Carlander HB (1954
''A history of fish and fishing in the upper Mississippi River''
Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, University of California
Html version
* Rob Buffler and Tom Dickson (1990) ''Fishing for Buffalo: A Guide to the Pursuit, Lore & Cuisine of Buffalo, Carp, Mooneye, Gar, and other "Rough" Fish'' Culpepper Press, Minneapolis. * Becker, George C. (1983
''Fishes of Wisconsin''
Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press * Minnesota Fishing Regulation Booklet, 201

* US Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program

'

External links

Roughfish.com

rough fish: Definition from Answers.com
{{diversity of fish Fishing in the United States Edible fish