How to Store Fish and Seafood So It Lasts Longer

Fish and seafood are some of the most delicious, nutritious foods you can bring home — and, sadly, some of the most perishable. A beautiful fillet can go from fresh to fishy in a single day if it’s stored the wrong way, and few things feel worse than tossing an expensive piece of salmon into the bin. The good news? With a few simple habits, you can keep fish and seafood at their best for far longer.

Whether you shop the fish counter weekly or grab the occasional bag of frozen shrimp, here’s how to store seafood properly so it stays fresh, safe, and ready to cook.

Buy With Storage in Mind

Great storage starts at the shop. The fresher your seafood is when you buy it, the longer it will last at home. Look for fish with clear, bright eyes, shiny skin, and firm flesh that springs back when pressed. It should smell clean and briny like the ocean — never sour or overtly “fishy.”

• Shop for fish last, right before you head to the checkout, so it spends less time out of refrigeration.
• Ask the fishmonger for a bag of ice if you have a long trip home.
• Get it into your fridge or freezer within an hour of buying whenever possible.

Storing Fresh Fish in the Fridge

Fresh fish is best cooked within one to two days of purchase, but how you store it makes a big difference. The key is keeping it cold — ideally colder than the rest of your fridge, which sits around 4°C (40°F).

• Keep fish in its original wrapping if you’ll cook it that day, or rewrap it loosely in fresh paper.
• Set the wrapped fish on a plate or in a shallow dish, then rest it on a bed of ice in the coldest part of the fridge (usually the bottom shelf at the back).
• Drain any melted water and refresh the ice daily so the fish never sits in liquid.

Shellfish like mussels, clams, and oysters need to breathe — store them in a bowl covered loosely with a damp cloth, never sealed in an airtight bag or submerged in water. Discard any that don’t close when tapped.

Freezing Fish and Seafood the Right Way

Freezing is your best friend for seafood you won’t use right away. Done well, frozen fish can keep its quality for months. The enemies are air and moisture loss, which cause freezer burn.

• Pat fish dry, then wrap tightly in cling film or freezer paper, pressing out air. Add a second layer in a freezer bag or airtight container.
• Label everything with the type and date — it’s astonishing how quickly a mystery parcel becomes a mystery forever.
• Freeze in meal-sized portions so you only defrost what you need.

As a rough guide, lean white fish keeps for up to six months, while oily fish like salmon and mackerel are best within two to three months. Shrimp, scallops, and squid freeze beautifully for around three months. For more general tips, see our guide on how to freeze food to reduce waste.

Defrosting Safely

How you thaw seafood matters just as much as how you freeze it. The safest method is the slowest: move it from the freezer to the fridge the night before you plan to cook, keeping it on a plate to catch drips.

• For a quicker thaw, seal the fish in a bag and submerge it in a bowl of cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes.
• Never defrost seafood on the counter at room temperature — the outside warms into the danger zone while the middle is still frozen.
• Cook thawed fish within a day and avoid refreezing it raw.

For more on this, our guide to defrosting food safely covers the details.

Use Up Leftovers and Trimmings

Cooked seafood deserves a second act. Leftover salmon flakes gorgeously into pasta, salads, or fishcakes, and yesterday’s prawns are wonderful in a quick fried rice. Store cooked seafood in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy it within two to three days.

• Save shrimp shells and fish bones in the freezer — they make a fragrant, nearly free seafood stock.
• Turn odds and ends into fish pie, chowder, or a tangle of tacos.
• Freeze cooked, cooled portions if you can’t get to them in time.

Need inspiration? Browse our leftover transformation ideas for ways to breathe new life into what’s already in your fridge.

Let Your Kitchen Do the Remembering

The single biggest cause of wasted seafood is simply forgetting it’s there. Because fish has such a short window, a little organisation goes a long way. Keep a “cook first” zone in your fridge and freezer, and jot down what you’ve frozen and when.

Better yet, let Food Waste Manager track it for you. Log your fish and seafood when you buy it, and you’ll get a gentle nudge before it’s past its best — so that lovely fillet ends up on your plate instead of in the bin. Pair it with our tips on reading your fridge like a chef, and you’ll waste less, save more, and eat wonderfully well.