List of commercially important fish species

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	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