Animal Crossing: New Horizons – What to do with Shells and Fish

If you’ve never played a game in the series before then Animal Crossing: New Horizons can be very daunting. As you begin your new life on a deserted island there are so many new things to do and see that it can get confusing. And then you explore only to find random stuff all over the ground, or you catch things and have no idea what they’re for. To explain two of them here’s what to do with shells and fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

What to do with Shells

One of my earliest experiences in the Animal Crossing franchise was frantically collecting all the shells I saw on the beach only to end up with a full inventory and no idea what to do with them. Thousands are surely having the same experience right now with New Horizons. Shells are some of the first items you’ll encounter, and they’re clearly important in some way, since there’s so many and they look so interesting and unique. You can display them in your home as decorations, but what else do you do with them?

Sell them! Unlike many other things in this game, shells don’t have much purpose beyond their value. Grabbing them from the beach is a great way to make some Bells early in the game when you don’t have all the tools you need to get the more valuable items. So running along the coast, picking up every shell you see then rushing back to Timmy Nook to sell for extra money is a great way to get started. This is similar, but a bit different to what you should be doing with fish.

What to do with Fish

Fish are a huge part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. They are like shells in that they are a great way to make Bells quickly, so feel free to sell them often. However, there is one big thing you can do with fish: donate them to the museum. If you haven’t already, see how to unlock the museum here. Once you have it (and before that if you give some fish to Tom Nook) you can donate any new fish species to the museum for display. It’s a great way to collect these guys and make progress toward some Nook Miles.

And that’s what to do with shells and fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.