Coasts and shelves
Shallow seas over the continental shelf. 357 fish on EveryFish so far.
The continental shelf is the shallow sea bed that fringes the continents, usually less than about 200 metres deep. It covers under a tenth of the ocean, but sunlight and nutrients from rivers and upwelling make it very productive, and most of the world's sea catch comes from it. Coastal seas hold schools of sardines and mackerel near the surface and cod, croakers and flatfish near the bottom.
India's coastal fisheries
India has a long coastline, remeasured in 2024 at more than 11,000 km, and most of its sea catch comes from the shelf. Oil sardine and mackerel dominate on the south-west coast, Bombay duck, pomfret and ribbonfish in the north-west, and hilsa, croakers and prawns in the Bay of Bengal. Small-scale fishers work close to shore, while trawlers and purse seiners fish further out. Mechanised fishing stops for 61 days each year during the monsoon breeding season.
Pressure on the shelf
Because shelf seas are close to land and easy to reach, they are heavily fished. Bottom trawling catches many young fish and disturbs the sea bed. Pollution from rivers, coastal building and the loss of mangroves and sea grass affect nurseries. In many seas, catches have shifted from large, valuable fish to smaller ones as the larger fish have been fished out. Marine protected areas and closed seasons are the main tools used to rebuild stocks.
Still to be written: Indian mackerel, Indian oil sardine, Bombay duck, Pampus argenteus, Largehead hairtail, Atlantic cod, European plaice, Atlantic herring.
Further reading
🇺🇸 United StatesCutthroat trout
A group of Pacific trout native to western North America, known for red throat markings.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1793
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreSea trout
Anadromous form of brown trout that migrates between sea and rivers.Salmonid · Between sea and river
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreOncorhynchus
A genus of migratory fish native to the North Pacific basin.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes
WorldBrown trout
A widespread salmonid with river, lake and sea forms.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreDolly Varden trout
A cold-water char native to the North Pacific rim.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1792
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreMarble trout
Adriatic freshwater salmonid with marbled skinSalmonid · Rivers and lakes
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreChum salmon
A Pacific salmon species known for its large size and wide distribution across the North Pacific.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1836
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Cutthroat trout: Hazzard, Lloyde / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, source
- Sea trout: No machine-readable author provided. Wolfgang Striewski assumed (based, Public domain, source
- Oncorhynchus: David Menke, Public domain, source
- Brown trout: Duane Raver, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, source
- Dolly Varden trout: The original uploader was PDH at English Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
- Marble trout: Jaz pa pojdem at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Chum salmon: Focus Saranpat Ouilapan, CC0, source