Coasts and shelves
Shallow seas over the continental shelf. 252 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
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreEstuarine stonefish
A venomous marine ray-finned fish found in the Indo-Pacific region.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1766
🇦🇺 Australia and 2 moreWobbegong
Camouflaged bottom-dwelling sharks found in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean.Shark · Coasts and shelves
WorldHammerhead shark
Sharks with T-shaped heads for better vision and sensing prey.Shark · Coasts and shelves
WorldBroadnose sevengill shark
A large coastal shark with seven gill slits and spotted skin.Shark · Coasts and shelves
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSwell shark
A catshark that inflates its body for defenceShark · Coasts and shelves · 1880
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreWhitespotted bamboo shark
A small, bottom-dwelling carpet shark with purple and pink spots, common in Asian coral reefs.Shark · Coasts and shelves
WorldBrownbanded bamboo shark
Small, docile reef shark suited for captivityShark · Coral reefs
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreLeopard shark
A coastal Pacific houndshark with black saddle markings and spots.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1854
🇦🇺 Australia and 2 moreTasselled wobbegong
A camouflaged carpet shark with a fringed head.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1867
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHorn shark
Small spotted bullhead shark from the eastern Pacific coast.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1855
🇦🇺 AustraliaEpaulette shark
A small carpet shark that walks on coral reefs and survives low oxygen.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1788
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreSand tiger shark
Large shark of subtropical and temperate coastal waters worldwideShark · Estuaries and mangroves
WorldSandbar shark
Large coastal requiem shark with a high dorsal finShark · Coasts and shelves
WorldSicklefin lemon shark
Large Indo-Pacific requiem shark with sickle-shaped fins.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1837
WorldTawny nurse shark
A large Indo-Pacific carpet shark known for octopus hunting and spitting water.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1831
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Estuarine stonefish: Sir Francis Day, Public domain, source
- Wobbegong: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hammerhead shark: suneko, CC BY 2.0, source
- Broadnose sevengill shark: José María Pérez Nuñez, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Swell shark: Cliff, CC BY 2.0, source
- Whitespotted bamboo shark: yvonne n, CC BY 2.0, source
- Brownbanded bamboo shark: Zul M Rosle, CC BY 2.0, source
- Leopard shark: Mfield , Matthew Field, www.photography.mattfield.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tasselled wobbegong: Lakshmi Sawitri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Horn shark: Ed Bierman, CC BY 2.0, source
- Epaulette shark: This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / C, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sand tiger shark: Amada44, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sandbar shark: Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sicklefin lemon shark: Patrick Quinn-Graham, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tawny nurse shark: David Burdick, Public domain, source