Minecraft wiki entry for Beginner%27s_guide, associated text: If you are next to a river or an ocean, you might want to get some fish for food. Cod and salmon are some of the best food sources in the game, and new fish reappear soon after you killed some (or even all) of them, so you don't need to worry about preserving them for future breeding (they can't be bred anyway). Before entering water, you should first make sure it is not too deep, and the bottom of the river/ocean is well illuminated, because not only are you more likely to drown in deeper water, but it is more likely to spawn drowned, a variant of zombie that may be very dangerous to fight. While in water, you can still use WASD to move around, but your movements are much slower than on land. press space to move upward in water (also for getting back onto the shore), and ⇧ Shift to descend. pressing ctrl and W together allows you to swim faster, and you can change directions flexibly by moving the camera. Remember to always watch the oxygen bar above your hunger bar, as when all bubbles are gone, you start taking drowning damage. Cod and salmon can be easily killed with a swipe of a sword. After this tiny fishing trip, remember to cook your fish in a furnace, so you get cooked cod and cooked salmon.