Pescetarianism is a dietary choice, in which a person — known as a pescetarian — eats the flesh of fish or of other non-mammalian aquatic animals but will not eat the flesh of non-aquatic animals or aquatic mammalian animals. Other animal products like eggs and dairy may be part of a pescetarian diet.
Terms like pesco-vegetarianism are sometimes used to describe pescetarianism, to emphasize that pescetarians abstain from eating the flesh of land animals. However, these terms are controversial and lesser-used, in part because they imply that pescetarianism is a type of vegetarianism. The Vegetarian Society, which initiated popular use of the term vegetarian as early as 1847, does not consider pescetarianism a valid vegetarian diet. Some other entities accept pescetarianism as a valid vegetarian diet, including MedicineOnline.com, Vegetarian.LifeTips.com, and the Centre for Cancer Education. The definitions of “vegetarian” in authoritative, mainstream dictionaries vary.
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