Fish market Information & Fish market Links at HealthHaven.com

For the Sydney railway station, see Fish Market MLR station, Sydney.

A fish stall in HAL market, Bangalore

A fish market is a marketplace used for marketing fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet market, often sell street food as well.

The term fish market can refer to the process of fish marketing in general, but this article is concerned with physical marketplaces.

[edit] History and development

The Great Fish Market, painted by Jan Brueghel the Elder

Because seafood is quick to spoil, fish markets are historically most often found in seaside towns. Once ice or other simple cooling methods became available, some were also established in large inland cities that had good trade routes to the coast.

Since refrigeration and rapid transport became available in the 19th and 20th century, fish markets can technically be established at any place. However, because modern trade logistics in general has shifted away from marketplaces and towards retail outlets, such as supermarkets, most seafood worldwide is now sold to consumers through these venues, like most other foodstuffs.

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 attractions as well.