Can a fish living in fresh water be called seafood?
Pangasius (Wikipedia) says:
Pangasius is a genus of medium-large to very large shark catfishes native to fresh water in South and Southeast Asia.
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In 2011, Pangasius was sixth in the National Fisheries Institute’s "Top 10" list of the most consumed seafood in the United States.
If I understand correctly, fresh water is not sea water, and has little salt.
So why can a fish living in fresh water be called seafood?
Thanks.
Best Answer
Don't read too much into the "sea"; there's no rule that every word in the language has to stick precisely to its etymological roots.
Seafood just means edible aquatic life, i.e. fish and shellfish in general. It's a food word, not a biology word, and fish on your plate looks pretty much the same whether it's freshwater or saltwater fish, so generally it all gets lumped into one category.
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Quick Answer about "Can a fish living in fresh water be called seafood?"
seafood, edible aquatic animals, excluding mammals, but including both freshwater and ocean creatures.Is fish considered a seafood?
Seafood includes fish (like tuna or cod) and shellfish (like lobster or clams). Even though they both fall into the category of "seafood," fish and shellfish are biologically different. So fish will not cause an allergic reaction in someone with a shellfish allergy, unless that person also has a fish allergy.Is fish and seafood the same thing?
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish.Is fish a seafood or meat?
Fish is the flesh of an animal used for food, and by that definition, it's meat.What is not considered seafood?
Seafood refers to small edible animals which come from the water. The culinary definition does not include fish, plants, mammals, or birds.Can it survive? Watch What happens when you put freshwater fish in saltwater.
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Answer 2
That usage might be peculiar to the US as most dictionaries like the Cambridge dictionary and Collins Dictionary list the broader definition of seafood as American English and have the narrower definition as the primary definition
Fish comes from an Old English word that meant any aquatic animal so most people would probably have just used fish without needing another word to denote all food from aquatic sources in general
Answer 3
Yes, you can do so as the term "seafood" is a misnomer. I haven't heard of the term "riverfood" or "lakefood", at least not in English. In Chinese, yes, there is such thing as "riverfood".
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