sport fish
- noun
- /spɔrt fɪʃ/
- Specialized
- Sport fish are stocked to provide consumption and recreational opportunities, and aquarium and aquaculture fish are introduced without concern for or understanding of native food webs and ecosystem processes.
- sport fish consumption
- sport fish species
Examples
-
Anglers often target sport fish like bass and trout because they are exciting to catch.
-
All three are popular sports fish.
Academic text (2004) -
Most state angling regulations specify the minimum length of sport fish that can be legally harvested.
Academic text (2009) -
"May 28, 29, and 30 were all records," said Mark Somerville, Fish and Game's area management biologist for sport fish based in Glennallen.
Blog text (14) -
Tigerfish (an important predator and sport fish) do not occur in seasonal swamps except during years of high floods (Mosepele and Mosepele 2005).
Academic text (2009) -
The lake is known for its diverse population of sport fish, attracting many fishing enthusiasts.
-
He spent the summer learning techniques to catch various types of sport fish in the local river.
Synonyms
A fish that people catch for sport, not for food or money
Antonyms
How Prized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'sport' (meaning recreational/for sport) with 'fish' to indicate a fish valued for recreational fishing. This attributive use of 'sport' is a common compositional pattern in English and has clear parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the intended sense.
Etymology
Sport fish comes from calling some fish sport because catching them is like a game: they 'put up a fight' and give people who fish a real challenge. So sport fish means 'fish valued for the challenge of catching them'.