Today there are about 240 commercial species of fish and shellfish
marketed in the United States. They may be fresh, frozen, or canned.
Fresh fish are generally available by the pound in these forms—whole,
dressed, and in steaks, fillets, and chunks. Most fish dealers will
clean, dress, or fillet your fish for you. They can also tell you what
fish are in season and what fish are a good buy.
Frozen fish are usually packed during the season when they are
plentiful and are held in freezer storage until distributed. This means
that you can buy most fish throughout the year. Frozen fish come whole,
dressed, and in steaks, fillets, chunks, portions, and sticks.
Canned fish and specialty items containing fish are ready to serve or
use as bought. Canned tuna, salmon, mackerel, and Maine sardines are
widely available.
_Market forms_
Familiarize yourself with these market forms of fish:
_Whole._—Fish marketed just as they come from the water. Ask your
dealer to scale, eviscerate, and remove head, tail, and fins.
_Dressed or pan-dressed._—Fish with scales and entrails removed,
and—usually—head, tail, and fins removed. Small fish are called
pan-dressed and are ready to cook as purchased. Large dressed fish may
be cooked as purchased, but often are filleted or cut into steaks or
chunks.
_Steaks._—Cross-section slices from large dressed fish cut ⅝ to 1 inch
thick. Steaks can be cooked as purchased.
_Fillets._—Sides of the fish cut lengthwise away from the backbone.
They may be skinned or the skin may be left on. Fillets are ready to
cook as purchased.
_Chunks._—Cross sections of large dressed fish. A cross section of
the backbone is the only bone in a chunk. They are ready to cook as
purchased.
_Raw breaded fish portions._—Portions cut from frozen fish blocks,
coated with a batter, breaded, packaged, and frozen. Raw breaded
fish portions weigh more than 1½ ounces. They are ready to cook as
purchased.
_Fried fish portions._—Portions cut from frozen fish blocks, coated
with a batter, breaded, partially cooked, packaged, and frozen. Fried
fish portions weigh more than 1½ ounces. They are ready to heat and
serve as purchased.
_Fried fish sticks._—Sticks cut from frozen fish blocks, coated with
a batter, breaded, partially cooked, packaged, and frozen. Fried fish
sticks weigh up to 1½ ounces. They are ready to heat and serve as
purchased.
_Inspection and grading_
The U.S. Department of the Interior provides an official inspection
service that enables you to identify high-quality seafoods. Such
products may be identified by the official USDI grade or inspection
shields that appear on the label. Fishery products that display these
shields have been processed under continuous in-plant inspection and
have met definite quality, processing, and packaging requirements.