blackfish

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈblakfɪʃ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

From black +‎ fish.

blackfish (plural blackfishes or blackfish)

1. (chiefly Scotland) An Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, especially a female after spawning. [from 16th c.]
2. Any of various dark-colored fish of the Old World, especially the rudderfish (Centrolophus niger). [from 17th c.]
3. Any of various dark-colored toothed whales. [from 17th c.]
   1. The pilot whale (Globicephalus spp.).
      • 1891, William Thomas Blanford, Mammalia, Volume 8, Taylor & Francis, page 577:

        The members of this genus, known as ‘Ca’ing Whales,’ ‘Pilot Whales,’ and ‘Blackfish,’ are found in all seas and grow to a considerable size.

      • 1970, The Encyclopedia of the Biological Sciences, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, page 159:

        Others, like Globicephala (pothead, blackfish, pilot whale), have distinct forms separated by apparent marine barriers which we cannot detect, except to a degree by the distribution of the animals.

   2. The killer whale (Orcinus orca).
      • 1869, Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Royal Society of Tasmania, page 76:

        A large skeleton of the blackfish (Orca sp.) has been prepared, articulated and mounted by the Curator, Mr. Roblin, and is a great acquisition to the Museum.

      • 1905, Forest and Stream, Volume 64, Forest and Stream Publishing Company, page 477:

        The poem evidently describes a day's fishing—the going out early in the morning, the rising tide, the sounds of early morning, the hooking of a blackfish (orca), and a sea bass, judging by some of the lines.

4. (Canada, US) Either of two dark-colored fish of the west Atlantic, the tautog of New England (Tautoga onitis) and the black sea bass (Centropristis striata). [from 18th c.]
5. (Australia, New Zealand) Any of various dark-colored fishes of Australasia, especially the luderick (Girella tricuspidata), and a freshwater fish, Gadopsis marmoratus. [from 18th c.]
   • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 337:

     The creek was reputed to contain blackfish and Nathan […] arranged the extraordinary collection of American lures he had inherited from an uncle.

blackfish (third-person singular simple present blackfishes, present participle blackfishing, simple past and past participle blackfished)

1. (fishing) To go fishing for blackfish.
   • 1975, Canada. Fisheries, Marine Service, Review of Biology and Fisheries for Smaller Cetaceans, page 1106:

     Earlier (Caldwell and Caldwell 1971a), we concentrated on the blackfishing at St. Vincent, the fishery with which we were most familiar, and listed known localities of fishing for blackfish and other species in the southern Caribbean.

   • 1984, Field and Stream, volume 89, page xxx:

     Long Island Sound, Block Island Sound, Rhode Island Sound, and Narragansett Bay have many spots where blackfishing is productive year after year.

   • 2014, Nick Honachefsky, The Jersey Surf Diaries:

     Blackfishing from the beach. I've done my research. Hundreds of shipwrecks line the Jersey coast, and many of them are close enough to reach with a long cast on a dead-low tide. These wrecks hold tautog, porgies, sea bass, flounder.

Blend of black +‎ catfish (“(to create) a fake online profile”).

blackfish (third-person singular simple present blackfishes, present participle blackfishing, simple past and past participle blackfished)

2. (Internet slang, derogatory, of a non-black person) To adopt signifiers of black identity (for example, by darkening the skin, or wearing traditionally black hairstyles).
   • 2019 February 7, Wil Haygood, “Why Won’t Blackface Go Away? It’s Part of America’s Troubled Cultural Legacy”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 19 August 2019:

     Judging from not only various records of campus life but also the numerous Instagram accounts of women appearing as "black" personalities — a phenomenon known as "blackfishing" — many do not know better.

   • 2020 October 8, Kris Seavers, “Newsletter: Princess Nokia accused of blackfishing”, in The Daily Dot‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 April 2021:

     On Sept. 28, Tumblr user wickedghastly posted allegations that the rapper has blackfished her fans. “Literally if you just look at images of her you can physically see her morphing herself over the years into looking Black,” wickedghastly wrote.