Length of a fish measured as the distance between the tip of the snout and the centre of the fork or ‘V’ of the tail. Commonly used to record the length of commercial fish because it is little affected by damage to the tail fin (cf. Total length). Fork length is measured flat, from point to point, usually on a measuring board, not by stretching a tape along the body surface, which would result in a longer measurement for full-bodied fish like tuna. See also Lower-jaw fork length.