A fish market is a

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

for selling

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

and

fish products Fish and fish products are consumed as food all over the world. With other seafoods, they provides the world's prime source of high-quality protein; 14–16 percent of the animal protein consumed worldwide. Over one billion people rely on fish a ...

. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of

wet market A wet market (also called a public market or a traditional market) is a marketplace selling fresh foods such as meat, fish, produce and other consumption-oriented perishable goods in a non-supermarket setting, as distinguished from " dry mark ...

, often sell

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumpt ...

as well. Fish markets range in size from small fish stalls to large ones such as the great

Tsukiji fish market is a major tourist attraction for both domestic and overseas visitors in Tokyo. The area contains retail markets, restaurants, and associated restaurant supply stores. Before 2018, it was the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the wor ...

in Tokyo, which turns over about 660,000 tonnes a year.Clover C (2008
''The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat''
Page 165. University of California Press, . The term ''fish market'' can also refer to the process of

fish marketing Fish marketing is the marketing and sale of fish products. Live fish trade Shrimp marketing Fish markets Chasse-marée The fundamental meaning of ''un chasse-marée'' was "a wholesale fishmonger", originally on the Channel coast of F ...

in general, but this article is concerned with physical marketplaces. __TOC__

History and development

Jan Brueghel the Elder-Great Fish market

Fish markets were known in antiquity.Rauch JE and Casella A (2001
''Networks and markets''
Page 157. Russell Sage Foundation, . They served as a

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to ...

where large numbers of people could gather and discuss current events and local

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

Because seafood is quick to

spoil Spoil or spoils: *Plunder taken from an enemy or victim *Material (such as rock, earth or other overburden) removed during: **excavation **mining **dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons f ...

, fish markets are historically most often found in seaside towns. Once

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

or other simple cooling methods became available, some were also established in large inland cities that had good

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...

s to the coast. Kotka Market Hall 1950s

Since

refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

and rapid

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

became available in the 19th and 20th century, fish markets can technically be established at any place. However, because modern trade

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

in general has shifted away from marketplaces and towards

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

outlets, such as supermarkets, most seafood worldwide is now sold to consumers through these venues, like most other

foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ing ...

s. Consequently, most major fish markets now mainly deal with wholesale trade, and the existing major fish retail markets continue to operate as much for traditional reasons as for commercial ones. Both types of fish markets are often

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

s as well.

Notable fish markets

The following is an incomplete list of notable fish markets. (See also a list of fish market articles.)

Operative markets

* Toyosu Market,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan, the world's largest fish market, replacing the former Tsukiji Market, have at least the same capacity but in up-to-date infrastructure. It opened on 11 October 2018, 5 days after Tsukiji closure (for transfer purpose). *

La Nueva Viga Market La Nueva Viga Market is the largest seafood market in Mexico and the second largest in the world after the Toyosu Market in Japan. It is located in Mexico City far inland from the coast, because of historical patterns of commerce in the country. Th ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, Mexico; the world's second largest fish market. Marketing from 250,000 up to 550,000 tons of seafood a year. *

Sydney Fish Market The Sydney Fish Market is a fish market in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The market sits on the Blackwattle Bay foreshore in Pyrmont, 2 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. It is the world's third largest fish market. ...

, Sydney, Australia the world's third largest fish market for volume sold and second largest in terms of variety. * Mercamadrid,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain; the world's fourth largest fish market, marketing about 220,000 tonnes a year. *

Billingsgate Fish Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was or ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, United Kingdom. * Busan Cooperative Fish Market,

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. * Feskekôrka, Gothenburg, Sweden. *

Fulton Fish Market The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in Hunts Point, a section of the New York City borough of the Bronx, in New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and p ...

, New York, United States. * Pike Place Fish Market,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, United States. * Maine Avenue Fish Market,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, United States. * Aberdeen Seafood Market,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Hong Kong Island,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. *

Taipei Fish Market The Taipei Fish Market () is a fish market in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. History The fish market was originally a traditional fish market. In 2012, it was redeveloped into a more modern fish market by Mitsui Food and Beverage Enterpri ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Historical markets

, Japan, was the world's largest fish market, marketing about 660,000 tonnes a year. It closed on 6 October 2018 after 83 years of operation, with most activities moving to the new Toyosu Market. *

Scania Market Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

, a historical annual market at the Falsterbo Peninsula *

Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market The Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market (), simply known as the Huanan Seafood Market (''Huanan'' means 'South China'), was a live animal and seafood market in Jianghan District, Wuhan City, the capital of Hubei Province in Central China. T ...

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

, China. It closed down on 1 January 2020, when it gained worldwide attention after being identified as a possible point of origin of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and the resulting pandemic.

Notes

References

* Bellamy JC (1843
''The housekeeper's guide to the fish-market for each month of the year''
Issue 33171 of ''Goldsmiths'-Kress library of economic literature'', Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans. * Bestor TC (2004) '' Tsukiji: the fish market at the center of the world'' In PE Lilienthal, ''California studies'', Volume 11,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

,
See profile at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

* Le Blanch J (2003
The Global fish market and the need for multilateral fishing disciplines
In: Leonard B (ed) ''Overfishing: A Global Challenge'', Diane Publishing, . *Paula Mónaco Felipe (April 11, 2008). "La Nueva Viga, paseo marino en el DF fuera de las guías turísticas" a Nueva Viga, marine walk in the Federal District outside of tour guide books La Jornada (in Spanish) (Mexico City). Retrieved March 13, 2011. * Crother C (2005
''Catch!: A Fishmonger's Guide to Greatness''
Berrett-koehler Series, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, . * Graddy K (2006
"The Fulton fish market"
''Journal of Economic Perspectives'', 20(2): 207–220. * Kirman, Alan P. and Vriend, Nicolaas J. (2000
"Learning to be loyal: A study of the Marseille fish market"
In: Domenico Delli Gatti,

Mauro Gallegati Mauro Gallegati (born 8 March 1958) is an Italian New-Keynesian economist, scholar of agent-based economics, and professor at Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy. Biography After having earned his PhD in economics in 1989 at Marche ...

, Alan P. Kirman, ''Interaction and market structure: essays on heterogeneity in economics'', Volume 484. Springer, . * Maniatis GC (2000
"The Organizational Setup and Functioning of the Fish Market in Tenth-Century Constantinople"
''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', 54: 13–42. * Porcù Leide (2005
"Fishy business: Humor in a Sardinian fish market"
''International Journal of Humor Research'', 18(1): 69–102. * Sophie S and Håkan H (2009
"Behind the fish market facade"
''The IMP Journal'', 3(1): 50–74. * Sancar Seckiner's new book DZ Uzerine Notlar, published Dec. 2014, highlights historic connection between two important fish markets in the world :Billingsgate-Yenikapı. .

External links

*
Fish out of water: A guide to city fishmongers
''New York Magazine'', 10 April 1978. {{fisheries and fishing Fisheries law Retailers by type of merchandise sold