It’s a paradox of seafood: Fresh fish should not smell like fish; it should smell like nothing. And if it does have a fishy odor, it might be too old to eat, says Justin Hall, manager of the Pike Place Fish Market, in Seattle. Fish should be packed in ice or on trays on top of ice. The skin should look smooth, moist, and silvery, not scaly. “If the scales are distinct and sharp, it’s not fresh,” Hall says. The stripe of fat between the meat and the skin on a piece of salmon, say, should be bright white; yellowish brown suggests it’s a few days old. Run a touch test, too, and if you’re not allowed to poke, ask the fishmonger to do so while you watch. “Fish should feel like your own flesh — not too soft,” says Masa Kinoshita, head sushi chef at Koi, in Los Angeles. “When you press down, it should come back up.” If you’re shopping for cooked shrimp or smoked salmon, ask for a taste, Kinoshita says. Always ask how soon you should eat your purchase, Hall says, “but the sooner the better.” And if it isn’t cooked or smoked, ask if the fish has ever been frozen. If it has, don’t refreeze it.