{"id":9611,"date":"2022-08-26T17:08:24","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T17:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/?p=9611"},"modified":"2025-07-23T15:13:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T15:13:38","slug":"fresh-fish-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\" align=\"right\"><a class=\"button\" style=\"background: #057594; color: #ffffff;\" href=https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/fish-policy-anisakis.pdf download=\"\">Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy<\/a><\/div><br>\n\n\n\n<p>Updated July 16, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>STAR-K\nreceives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or\nsources. We hope this brief article will help clarify some of the confusion regarding\nthis topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a fish to be kosher, the Halacha is that it needs to have fins and scales.<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Furthermore, there is a rabbinic prohibition<a href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> to consume fish that has had the <em>simanei kashrus <\/em>(scales)<a href=\"#_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> removed (e.g., a skinless fish fillet) without a <em>Yehudi<\/em> having confirmed that it was a kosher fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Stores with Kosher Supervision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In\nstores or companies that are under STAR-K supervision, the fish are filleted\nwith a mashgiach present, and therefore one may buy any fish fillet without any\nfurther concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Skinless Fillet from a Non-Kosher Store or Source<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Purchasing\nskinless fish either from a store that is not kosher supervised, or that was\nnot sealed in a package bearing a reliable kosher symbol, is not permissible. STAR-K\ndoes not consider the color of a fish alone (e.g., the red color of salmon) to\nbe a valid <em>siman kashrus.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Buying a Whole or Cut Fish from a Non-Kosher Fish Store or Counter <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Technically,\none may go to a non-kosher fish store, ask for a whole fish with skin\/scales\nintact, ensure that the knives and cutting boards are fully clean, and have\nthem fillet the fish for you while you observe. However, this is not always\nfeasible, particularly if the store is busy or the cutting area is not easily\nvisible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore,\nthe equipment really does need to be checked to be 100% completely clean, which\nmay not be so feasible either.<a href=\"#_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>STAR-K\ndoes not recommend consumers purchase fish from a non-kosher store in this\nmanner unless there is no other option. A Rav should be consulted to determine\nif your situation warrants allowing this. Alternatively, one may buy a whole\nfish and cut it at home, which would avoid all the above issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Buying Commercially Packaged Fish with Skin\/Scales Still Attached<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fish\nthat has the skin\/scales intact and is sold packaged from a commercial fish\ncompany (NOT cut up in the store) <em>may<\/em> be purchased and used without any\nconcern of non-kosher fish residue. The reason for this is that commercial fish\nprocessors typically produce fish in large quantities on dedicated equipment, and\ntherefore there is very little concern of residue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Anisakis<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One other relevant issue is that some wild-caught fish are potentially infested with anisakis worms and should be avoided. A common example of problematic fish is wild salmon. A complete list can be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/16375\/anisakis-fish-policy\/\">STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy<\/a> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, contact the <strong>STAR-K Kashrus Hotline <\/strong>at<strong> 410-484-4110 <\/strong>Monday through Thursday from 9-5 and Friday 9-2, or email us at <strong>info@star-k.org<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> Vayikra 11:12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> See <em>Avoda Zara <\/em>39a and <em>TShu\u201da <\/em>118:1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a>\nWhen the skin is attached, even if the fish has already been descaled, the\noutline of the scales is usually visible. That is enough to confirm the fish as\nbeing kosher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a>\nConsumers should not negate the possibility and\nconcern of cross-contamination from non-kosher fish on shared equipment, as our\nmashgichim who work in the fish industry report this to be a common practice,\nand thus, a real concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"button\" style=\"background: #057594; color: #ffffff;\" href=https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/fish-policy-anisakis.pdf download=\"\">Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Updated July 16, 2025<\/p>\n<p>STAR-K<br \/>\nreceives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or<br \/>\nsources. We hope this brief article will help clarify some of the confusion regarding<br \/>\nthis topic.<\/p>\n<p>For a fish to be kosher, the Halacha is that it needs to have fins and scales.<a href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Furthermore, there is a rabbinic prohibition<a href=\"#_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> to consume fish that has had the simanei kashrus (scales)<a href=\"#_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> removed (e.g., a skinless fish fillet) without a Yehudi having confirmed that it was a kosher fish. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Stores with Kosher Supervision<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In<br \/>\nstores or companies that are under STAR-K supervision, the fish are filleted<br \/>\nwith a mashgiach present, and therefore one may buy any fish fillet without any<br \/>\nfurther concerns. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Skinless Fillet from a Non-Kosher Store or Source<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Purchasing<br \/>\nskinless fish either from a store that is not kosher supervised, or that was<br \/>\nnot sealed in a package bearing a reliable [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559,330],"tags":[287,288],"class_list":["post-9611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-halachic-guidelines","category-halachic-guidelines-in-app","tag-anisakis-worms","tag-purchasing-fresh-fish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy | STAR-K Kosher Certification<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy Updated July 16, 2025 STAR-K receives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy | STAR-K Kosher Certification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy Updated July 16, 2025 STAR-K receives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"STAR-K Kosher Certification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T17:08:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-23T15:13:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f12b5761078dbba55d430bac16613cd0\"},\"headline\":\"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-26T17:08:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-23T15:13:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":542,\"keywords\":[\"Anisakis Worms\",\"Purchasing Fresh Fish\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Halachic Guidelines\",\"Halachic Guidelines In App\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/\",\"name\":\"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy | STAR-K Kosher Certification\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-26T17:08:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-23T15:13:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f12b5761078dbba55d430bac16613cd0\"},\"description\":\"Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy Updated July 16, 2025 STAR-K receives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/halachic-guidelines\\\/9611\\\/fresh-fish-policy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"STAR-K Kosher Certification\",\"description\":\"Providing Kosher certification worldwide\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f12b5761078dbba55d430bac16613cd0\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b3b19a532a7fa7c9170102e5626da08c64628e91363368670414d0d887d5d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b3b19a532a7fa7c9170102e5626da08c64628e91363368670414d0d887d5d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b3b19a532a7fa7c9170102e5626da08c64628e91363368670414d0d887d5d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.duvys.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.star-k.org\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/duvys\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy | STAR-K Kosher Certification","description":"Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy Updated July 16, 2025 STAR-K receives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy | STAR-K Kosher Certification","og_description":"Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy Updated July 16, 2025 STAR-K receives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or","og_url":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/","og_site_name":"STAR-K Kosher Certification","article_published_time":"2022-08-26T17:08:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-23T15:13:38+00:00","author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/"},"author":{"name":"Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f12b5761078dbba55d430bac16613cd0"},"headline":"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy","datePublished":"2022-08-26T17:08:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-23T15:13:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/"},"wordCount":542,"keywords":["Anisakis Worms","Purchasing Fresh Fish"],"articleSection":["Halachic Guidelines","Halachic Guidelines In App"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/","name":"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy | STAR-K Kosher Certification","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-08-26T17:08:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-23T15:13:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f12b5761078dbba55d430bac16613cd0"},"description":"Download PDF of STAR-K Anisakis Fish Policy Updated July 16, 2025 STAR-K receives many questions about purchasing fresh fish from non-kosher stores or","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/halachic-guidelines\/9611\/fresh-fish-policy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"STAR-K Fresh Fish Policy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/","name":"STAR-K Kosher Certification","description":"Providing Kosher certification worldwide","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f12b5761078dbba55d430bac16613cd0","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b3b19a532a7fa7c9170102e5626da08c64628e91363368670414d0d887d5d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b3b19a532a7fa7c9170102e5626da08c64628e91363368670414d0d887d5d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b3b19a532a7fa7c9170102e5626da08c64628e91363368670414d0d887d5d0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.duvys.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/author\/duvys\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9611"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16530,"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9611\/revisions\/16530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.star-k.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}