New guide aims to help consumers identify fish at wet markets in Singapore

It includes average price, cooking methods and sustainability recommendations

- Calista Wong

Can't tell a snapper from a grouper? Wondering what the English name for batang fish is?

A new guide aims to help customers identify 60 types of fish commonly found at wet markets in Singapore, and more.

It includes the average price per kilogram of fish and some suggested cooking methods, and lists the names of the fish in English, Chinese and Malay.

Called A Fish For Every Dish, the guide also makes sustainability recommendations, such as whether to eat less of a certain type of fish, opt for locally farmed alternatives, or avoid eating it completely.

The online guide is the brainchild of Pasarfish, a local education and research platform dedicated to promoting Singapore’s seafood heritage, along with sustainable consumption and traceability. It is available for free on Pasarfish’s website at www.pasarfish.com

Pasarfish, a recipient of the SG Eco Fund administered by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, was founded in 2024 by Mr Elliott James Ong, 29, and Mr Kenny Lek, 33.

Said Mr Ong: “We hope for people to go to the wet market to learn more about fish, and hopefully in the process of doing so, they also learn about sustainability.”

Mr Lek and Mr Ong began working on the identification guide to document and preserve Singapore’s seafood heritage tied to its wet markets — a cultural facet Pasarfish observed to be slowly fading with time.