White fish is a culinary term that can have several meanings. Most commonly, it refers to the light-colored meat of certain fish species, including cod, whiting, haddock, hake, and pollock, which is low in oil and turns white when cooked. The term contrasts with oily fish, which has darker meat that turns brown, grey or pink when cooked, such as salmon, trout, tuna, swordfish, sardines, herring and anchovies.
Confusingly, the term "whitefish" can also indicate a particular species of fish, including Atlantic whitefish, Cape whitefish, and others.
In Japanese practice, the term shiromi indicates a similar concept.