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Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by
humans. Seafood prominently includes fish and
shellfish. Shellfish include various species of
molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms.
Historically, sea mammals such as whales and
dolphins have been consumed as food, though that
happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible
sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae,
are widely eaten as seafood around the world,
especially in Asia (see the category of sea
vegetables).
In North America, although not generally in the
United Kingdom, the term "seafood" is extended to
fresh water organisms eaten by humans, so all edible
aquatic life may be referred to as seafood. For the
sake of completeness, this article includes all
edible aquatic life. |
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The harvesting of wild seafood is usually known as fishing
or hunting, and the cultivation and farming of seafood is
known as aquaculture, or fish farming in the case of fish.
Seafood is often distinguished from meat, although it is
still animal and is excluded in a strict vegetarian diet.
Seafood is an important source of protein in many diets
around the world, especially in coastal areas.
Most of the seafood harvest is consumed by humans, but a
significant proportion is used as fish food to farm other
fish or rear farm animal. Some seafoods (kelp) are used as
food for other plants (fertilizer). In these ways, seafoods
are indirectly used to produce further food for human
consumption. Products, such as fish oil and spirulina
tablets are also extracted from seafoods. Some seafood is
feed to aquarium fish, or used to feed domestic pets, such
as cats, and a small proportion is used in medicine, or is
used industrially for non-food purposes (leather).
History
Various foods depicted in an Egyptian burial chamber,
including fish, c. 1400 BC
Main article: History of seafood
The harvesting, processing, and consuming of seafoods are
ancient practices with archaeological evidence dating back
well into the Paleolithic. Findings in a sea cave at
Pinnacle Point in South Africa indicate Homo sapiens (modern
humans) harvested marine life as early as 165,000 years ago,
while the Neanderthals, an extinct human species
contemporary with early Homo sapiens, appear to have been
eating seafood at sites along the Mediterranean coast
beginning around the same time. Isotopic analysis of the
skeletal remains of Tianyuan man, a 40,000 year old modern
human from eastern Asia, has shown that he regularly
consumed freshwater fish. Archaeology features such as shell
middens, discarded fish bones and cave paintings show that
sea foods were important for survival and consumed in
significant quantities. During this period, most people
lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and were, of necessity,
constantly on the move. However, where there are early
examples of permanent settlements (though not necessarily
permanently occupied) such as those at Lepenski Vir, they
are almost always associated with fishing as a major source
of food.
The ancient river Nile was full of fish; fresh and dried
fish were a staple food for much of the population. The
Egyptians had implements and methods for fishing and these
are illustrated in tomb scenes, drawings, and papyrus
documents. Some representations hint at fishing being
pursued as a pastime.
World fisheries harvest, both wild and farmed, in million
tonnes, 1950–2010
World fisheries harvest, wild capture versus aquaculture
production, in million tonnes 1950–2010
Fishing scenes are rarely represented in ancient Greek
culture, a reflection of the low social status of fishing.
However, Oppian of Corycus, a Greek author wrote a major
treatise on sea fishing, the Halieulica or Halieutika,
composed between 177 and 180. This is the earliest such work
to have survived to the modern day. The consumption of fish
varied in accordance with the wealth and location of the
household. In the Greek islands and on the coast, fresh fish
and seafood (squid, octopus, and shellfish) were common.
They were eaten locally but more often transported inland.
Sardines and anchovies were regular fare for the citizens of
Athens. They were sometimes sold fresh, but more frequently
salted. A stele of the late 3rd century BCE from the small
Boeotian city of Akraiphia, on Lake Copais, provides us with
a list of fish prices. The cheapest was skaren (probably
parrotfish) whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna was three times as
expensive. Common salt water fish were yellowfin tuna, red
mullet, ray, swordfish or sturgeon, a delicacy which was
eaten salted. Lake Copais itself was famous in all Greece
for its eels, celebrated by the hero of The Acharnians.
Other fresh water fish were pike-fish, carp and the less
appreciated catfish.
Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics. At a
certain time the goatfish was considered the epitome of
luxury, above all because its scales exhibit a bright red
color when it dies out of water. For this reason these fish
were occasionally allowed to die slowly at the table. There
even was a recipe where this would take place in garo, in
the sauce. At the beginning of the Imperial era, however,
this custom suddenly came to an end, which is why mullus in
the feast of Trimalchio (see the Satyricon) could be shown
as a characteristic of the parvenu, who bores his guests
with an unfashionable display of dying fish.
In medieval times, seafood was less prestigious than other
animal meats, and often seen as merely an alternative to
meat on fast days. Still, seafood was the mainstay of many
coastal populations. Kippers made from herring caught in the
North Sea could be found in markets as far away as
Constantinople. While large quantities of fish were eaten
fresh, a large proportion was salted, dried, and, to a
lesser extent, smoked. Stockfish, cod that was split down
the middle, fixed to a pole and dried, was very common,
though preparation could be time-consuming, and meant
beating the dried fish with a mallet before soaking it in
water. A wide range of mollusks including oysters, mussels
and scallops were eaten by coastal and river-dwelling
populations, and freshwater crayfish were seen as a
desirable alternative to meat during fish days. Compared to
meat, fish was much more expensive for inland populations,
especially in Central Europe, and therefore not an option
for most.
Modern knowledge of the reproductive cycles of aquatic
species has led to the development of hatcheries and
improved techniques of fish farming and aquaculture. Better
understanding of the hazards of eating raw and undercooked
fish and shellfish has led to improved preservation methods
and processing. |
