After being caught and landed, marine fish often die within a short time due to environmental incompatibility. Due to its delicious taste and rich nutrition, marine fish will enter the spoilage process rapidly after death and have a short shelf life, so the development of marine fish preservation technology is important. This paper analyzed the spoilage factors due to enzymatic autolysis, microorganism and lipid oxidation of different marine fishes after death, summarized the endogenous enzymes in the cold storage process of marine fish and their effects on the quality of marine fish, and also summarized specific spoilage organisms and their spoilage compounds during low temperature storage of some marine fishes. This paper focused on the research progress of traditional and emerging preservation technologies in the food industry, compared the preservation principles and effects of the above technologies, and also looked into the future development of marine fish preservation technologies. This review aimed to provide references for further development and optimization of seawater fish preservation technologies for application in food industry.