Called dag by the Hebrews, a word denoting great fecundity (Genesis 9:2; Numbers 11:22; Jonah 2:1, 10). No fish is mentioned by name either in the Old or in the New Testament. Fish abounded in the Mediterranean and in the lakes of the Jordan, so that the Hebrews were no doubt acquainted with many species. Two of the villages on the shores of the Sea of Galilee derived their names from their fisheries, Bethsaida (the "house of fish") on the east and on the west. There is probably no other sheet of water in the world of equal dimensions that contains such a variety and profusion of fish. About thirty-seven different kinds have been found. Some of the fishes are of a European type, such as the roach, the barbel, and the blenny; others are Markedly African and tropical, such as the eel-like silurus. There was a regular fish-market apparently in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 33:14; Nehemiah 3:3; 12:39; Zephaniah 1:10), as there was a fish-gate which was probably contiguous to it.

Sidon is the oldest fishing establishment known in history.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A counter, used in various games.

2. (n.) Plural of Fish.

3. (n.) A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of diverse characteristics, living in the water.

4. (n.) An oviparous, vertebrate animal usually having fins and a covering scales or plates. It breathes by means of gills, and lives almost entirely in the water. See Pisces.

5. (n.) The twelfth sign of the zodiac; Pisces.

6. (n.) The flesh of fish, used as food.

7. (n.) A purchase used to fish the anchor.

8. (n.) A piece of timber, somewhat in the form of a fish, used to strengthen a mast or yard.

9. (v. i.) To attempt to catch fish; to be employed in taking fish, by any means, as by angling or drawing a net.

10. (v. i.) To seek to obtain by artifice, or indirectly to seek to draw forth; as, to fish for compliments.

11. (v. t.) To catch; to draw out or up; as, to fish up an anchor.

12. (v. t.) To search by raking or sweeping.

13. (v. t.) To try with a fishing rod; to catch fish in; as, to fish a stream.

14. (v. t.) To strengthen (a beam, mast, etc.), or unite end to end (two timbers, railroad rails, etc.) by bolting a plank, timber, or plate to the beam, mast, or timbers, lengthwise on one or both sides. See Fish joint, under Fish, n.