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A fishmonger at Seattle's Pike Place Market.

2 fishmongers look at swordfish and tuna loins. Notice the tuna coffins the loins rest on.

A fishmonger is someone who sells fish and seafood. In some countries modern supermarkets are replacing fishmongers who operate in shops or markets.

Many fishmongers as well as butchers are a dying breed. With the advent of many economical ways of distributing and packaging food, supermarkets many times opt for less expensive alternatives to these trained, highly skilled professionals. Fishmongers are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, merchandising and selling their product.

Fishmongers can be broken down into two categories: wholesale and retail. Among the most respected wholesale fishmongers is Mike Foley of M.F. Foley Fish Company, and Steve Connolly of Steve Connolly Seafood, both located in Massachusetts. A trademark for both purveyors is the branding of their products rather then generic labeling. Examples of retail stores run by fishmongers in the United States are Citarella's in New York City, Legal Seafood in Boston, Massachusetts and Gulf Shrimp(both wholesale and retail) in Plantsville, Connecticut.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, some contend, the word fishmonger was a euphemism for a pimp [1][2]. It is not known if the pejorative use of fish to refer to penis was also implied by this possible usage. It seems more likely that "fish" would refer here not to the male genitalia, but to the female.

In the Asterix series, the village fishmonger is called Unhygienix

In the film the beach, the Island's chef, played by Daniel Caltagirone, has only fish as a source of meat, and is named Unhygienix in refference to the Asterix character.

• Katie Lee Joel, host of Top Chef
• Lydia Morales, contestant on Survivor: Guatemala

External Links

• Citarella's
• Legal Seafood
• Steve Connolly Seafood
• Foley Fish