By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing - Why does John say there were 153 fish? A famous Bible scholar, once asked that question, replied, “Perhaps because there were 153 fish.” Funny, but he had a deeper point, namely, that John likes to emphasize that he was an eyewitness, and, in giving this number, he conveys what it was like to be there, to handle those fish, and (as fishermen would) to count them one-by-one.