Researchers have determined that there were around 55 species of fish known to the ancient Egyptians. The Nile was far more fertile with fish fecundity than it is today. Most were probably consumed at some time or another. Perch, catfish, carp, mullet, eel, tilapia, elephant-snout fish, tiger fish, and moon fish were all eaten. The researcher Galliard has identified 24 species of fish represented in detailed carvings and engravings from the Old Kingdom. We have no way of knowing if all these species were eaten. The smallest species of Nile fish were not depicted; it could be that it wasn't considered worth the artisans' while to carve them.

Both the Nile perch and the eel were considered sacred.

How'd they catch them? By the 12th Dynasty, all the means of catching fish outlined below were possible.

Beaching
Often fish would be left behind to flap on shore or in shallow pools as Nile floodwaters receded. This was an easy way, used from the beginnings of time up until the construction of the Aswan dam, to collect fish.

Spearing
This took a lot of skill, and did not yield a large output of food. In the earliest years of Egyptian history, this was probably a method for catching food, whereas later the spearing of fish was more of a sport for the upper classes to pursue. The Fayoum A excavations have yielded spears made from bone or from fish spine. The spear-fishing motif is rare in Old Kingdom depictions, but comes to the fore in Middle and New Kingdom representations, perhaps religiously to represent the stories of Osiris and Horus, or perhaps also to depict nobility at sport.

Drop line hooks
Like the above techniques, this method goes back to the Pre-Dynastic era. Hooks have been excavated from both Upper and Lower Egypt sites. Hooks were made from shell, horn or copper, and a few were barb-less. Drop line fishing continued to be represented in the Old Kingdom - images were made with un-baited hooks, although it is believed that this was artistic license and that indeed the hooks were baited. We don't know what baits were used, although there appeared to be a prohibition against baiting hooks with the same type of fish as one was fishing for. It is possible that in some instances fish were indeed obtained with bait-less hooks, by snagging the fish. The disadvantage to drop line fishing is that in most cases one can only catch one fish at a time, although multiple hook lines were sometimes used.

Fishing rods
There are paintings dating to the Middle and Late Kingdom of men fishing using fishing rods. The images depict both nobility and servants employing this technique. However, these images are not that common, and most are badly damaged. It is likely that most of such fishing was for sport.

Traps
Fish traps possibly date back to the late Paleolithic, with evidence of what has been interpreted as drawings of fish traps. However the interpretation may be faulty. One form of trap was a stake (or barracade) trap, which channelled fish into a shallow region where they could be more easily speared. It is not known how prevalent this type of trap was. Basket traps however are depicted in Old Kingdom art, such as at Saqqara. They could be floated just below the surface of the water, then raised quickly to harvest fish.

Corded nets or seines
Neolithic residents of Fayoum A probably used large fishing nets, as evidenced by grooved limestone balls found in the region. These would be used as sinkers to keep the bottom of the net on the bottom of the water. In Old Kingdom tombs one finds depictions of large nets which would require the efforts of several boats of fishermen. These nets had floaters for the upper part of the net, and sinkers for the lower. Slings in some instances were attached to the net and to fishermen, to facilitate retrieval of the catch. Such depictions continue through the Middle Kingdom. A model of two ships with fishermen running a net between them was found in the tomb of Meket-Re, 11th Dynasty. Hand nets, operated by one fisherman, were also used in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Usually they were made from two sticks lashed together at one end, and strengthened with a brac, to make a "V". There was netting material, and a means to open and close this "V".

Piscean preparations
Some fish were served fresh and could be cooked by broiling, some were salted, some pickled, some sundried to preserve them for future meals. Sometimes the ancient Egyptians made shreds of fish into fishballs. A salted fillet of fish was found, very well preserved, in Deir el Medina.

Alexandria & the Mediterranean
Marine fish from the Mediterranean were probably not fished for to any great extent. It may be more difficult to determine this, because of the difficulty in preserving artifacts from the delta of the Nile. In Deir el Bahara, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut has a depiction of a sea voyage to Punt, complete with marine fish, crustaceans and mollusks. We don't know if they ate this sea life or not, however. From the types of sea life depicted, the ship may be in either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean.

Greek recipes surviving from the late periods indicate that fresh seafood from the Mediterranean and from the Nile might appear on the menu in Alexandria. Fresh grilled fish, according to Apicus, was served with "pepper, lovage, fresh coriander, onion, stoned damsons, passum liquamen, vinegar, and oil, pounded, mixed, cooked then spread over the fish as it cooked". Alas, we do not know what types Apicus feasted upon.

However, earlier we have an account from Machon of Corinth, who related the seafood served at a feast hosted by Ptolemy I. The fish included gobies, parrot-fishes, red mullets, forked hake, sprats, minnows and Phaleric anchovies.

Shellfish and mollusks
Shellfish and mollusks are seldom attested to. Since many of these are salt water, evidence from the mouth of the Nile would be minimal due to erosion over the centuries. A variety of freshwater clams were consumed in the Pre-Dynastic era, and shells were saved for ornamentation or for purposeful work. There are no signs of the consumption of clams during Dynastic times until we get to Roman reports of a type of mussel found on the island of Pharos that are nourishing but not very digestible. This reporter, Athenaeus, appreciated clams found at Canobus, however. He also delights in Egyptian barnacles, but it is probably not likely that these were a regular food source during Dynastic times. Lobster and crayfish may have also been consumed by denizens of Alexandria, which was after all, a multicultural city.

Fish as taboo The Greek writers were especially adamant about fish being taboo to eat in ancient Egypt. Diordorus claimed that no one was allowed to consume it, while Herodotus said it was only priests who had to obey the restrictions. It was a fish which had consumed Osiris' member when he was chopped up and thrown into the Nile by Set, so perhaps this was the rationale for the restriction. However, there is some evidence that restrictions, which would have applied only to priests of specific deities (such as Osiris), may have only applied to the later periods of Egyptian history, as fish are often depicted in tombs, used in motifs on daily-use objects, mentioned in literary works, and recorded on offerings lists.

There were periods where some fish were considered sacred, and thus not consumed. The Pharaoh Piankhi declined to eat fish, or to eat with those who did. Since he was one of the southern kings from Nubia, and the delta nobility did consume fish, prohibitions were different in his homeland. Earlier in Egyptian history, religious texts dating to the reign of Amenhotep II, and to Akhenaten indicate a positive regard for fish. Of course, anything Akhenaten sanctioned might swiftly be overturned, but this does not appear to be the case with regards to fish. The 19th and 20th Dynasties were tolerant of fish consumption by the nobility, and there were officials dedicated to regulating fishing. Ramesses III, who had strong habits of offering up vast quantities of apparently everything, offered vast quantities of fish to Amun.

Fish important to the tale of Osiris may have included Oxrhynchus, Lepitotus and Phagrus. It is said that it was they who fed on the missing member of Osiris. Perhaps a fish dietary exclusion first applied to these fish. At the annual ceremonies at Edfu, these fish would be thrown on the ground and stabbed in religious vengeance. Devotees of Set may have worshipped them.

Oxyrhynchus has been identified as fish from the genus Mormyrus. This fish has a downwardly-curving beak. While frequently depicted in Old Kingdom tombs, most of what we know about it and Egyptians dates from foreign (Greek and Roman) informants. Adherents of Set during the late periods honored this fish, with small bronze statues. It may during this time have been eaten by neither those who loathed it, or those who revered it. Fishermen themselves were often compelled not to net or hook this fish. It is considered that a taboo on the eating of this particular fish had to be a late consideration, as there are many tombs - not all owned by Setians - which portray this particular fish. Identifying the other two types of fish has been uncertain.

Other fish with religious symbolism include the Latus (Nile perch, Lates niloticus), worshipped at Esna (Latopolis) in Upper Egypt. Indeed, an entire necropolis of mummified Nile perch were found here. Likewise, these fish have been found mummified down in Abu Gourob, Lower Egypt. Prohibitions on their consumption would probably have been both temporal and regional.

It was claimed in foreign writings that seafood from the Mediterranean should not be consumed, as that body of water was associated with Set.

Other fishy affairs
In the late 20th Dynasty, The Tale of Wenmon tells of this man's journey to Byblos. He carries with him 30 baskets of salted fish from Egypt to serve as part of a payment towards wood needed for ship construction. The export of salted fish from Egypt was common, at least during later periods of Egyptian culture.

Fish roe was also eaten. It was collected and dried. One prevalent fish used was the mullet. There are scenes in tombs from Saqqara and Giza which demonstrate fishermen extracting the roe from fish. There's at least one case of a mummifed young fish fry!

Medicinally, fish gall from an unrecognized species of fish was considered in the Ebers Papyrus to be useful topically for diseases of the eye.