Should You Sell or Donate Fish in Animal Crossing? A Complete Guide

Deciding whether to sell your fish or donate them to Blathers can be a tough choice in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Both options have their own pros and cons, and a lot depends on your current goals and needs in the game. In this complete guide, I‘ll walk you through the key factors to consider when choosing between selling and donating fish in ACNH.

The Case for Donating Fish

Donating new fish species to the museum should absolutely be your first priority. Here‘s why:

• Completing the museum fish collection is a major accomplishment. With 80 fish to catch, it takes dedication and time. Donating your new catches pushes you closer to that goal.

• Blathers gives you rewards for hitting donation milestones. At 5 fish donated you get a poster. At 10 fossils you earn a plaque. These incentives help motivate you to keep donating.

• Donated fish get added to the Nook Stop catalog. This means you can re-order another of any fish you‘ve donated through the Resident Services terminal. Very handy!

• You can focus on other earning methods after donating. With one of each fish donated, you can shift your efforts to bug catching, diving for sea creatures, gardening, playing the stalk market, and other profitable activities.

• Rarity matters. Extremely rare fish like the coelacanth and oarfish may take weeks or months to catch again. You‘ll want to donate those first rather than selling them.

Overall, you should prioritize donating the first fish of every species you catch before considering selling duplicates. This ensures you make steady progress on the museum while retaining access to hard-to-find fish.

When to Sell Extra Fish

So when should you sell fish? Here are the best times to sell extra catches beyond the first donated:

• When you need bells quickly. Selling spare fish is a fast way to get bells for upgrading your house, building infrastructure, paying off loans, and more. Perfect when you need cash.

• High value fish fetch big profits. Whale sharks, tuna, and oarfish can earn 10,000+ bells each. Paydays like that add up fast!

• Fish respawn after being sold. As long as you donated one first, you can always catch another of a sold fish later.

• Playing the stalk market requires a bell investment. Turnips require lots of bells to buy batches and reap big profits. Fish sales provide capital.

• Catching & selling fish counts toward nook mile achievements. You can rake in miles while earning bells through sales. It’s a win-win.

The key opportunity is that you can sell duplicate fish beyond the first donated and still easily re-catch them again later if needed. This makes selling extras very worthwhile.

Valuable Fish to Target

To maximize your profits, here are the top 15 high value fish you should target catching for sales:

As you can see, ocean and pier locations tend to have the most valuable fish. Catching sharks at night during the summer is particularly profitable. Remember to donate the first of each species, then sell the rest!

Final Thoughts on Selling Vs Donating Fish

In the end, the best approach is likely to donate your first new fish, then sell the duplicates beyond that. This balanced tactic allows you to fill the museum, unlock rewards and catalog access, and rake in bells from extra catches.

Prioritize donating extremely rare fish when you catch them. For high value fish, consider donating one and selling additional ones after the first. This ensures you benefit from both selling and donating.

Take advantage of opportunities like C.J.‘s visits to sell fish at 1.5x price, and Flick for bugs. Ultimately, being smart about when to donate vs sell fish will help progression in Animal Crossing feel fun and rewarding. Now get out there and fill up that critterpedia!