Coasts and shelves
Shallow seas over the continental shelf. 266 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
WorldGreat white shark
A large, globally distributed predator known for its size and apex status in marine ecosystems.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1758
WorldPelagic thresher
The smallest thresher shark, found in tropical oceans and known for its whip-like tail.Shark · Open ocean · 1935
WorldSalmon shark
A warm-blooded mackerel shark of the northern PacificShark · Coasts and shelves
WorldMilk shark
A small coastal requiem shark found in tropical waters worldwide.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1837
WorldCommon thresher
The largest thresher shark, known for its whip-like tail used to stun prey in cool coastal and open waters.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1788
WorldPorbeagle
A fast, cold-water mackerel shark found in the Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1788
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWhale shark
The largest living fish species, a gentle giant of tropical oceans.Shark · Open ocean · 1829
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreGreen sturgeon
A large anadromous fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean.Shark · Coasts and shelves
WorldTiger shark
A large predatory shark known for its striped pattern and diverse diet.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1822
WorldRequiem shark
A family of migratory, live-bearing sharks found in warm seas worldwide.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1896
WorldBroadnose sevengill shark
A large coastal shark with seven gill slits and spotted skin.Shark · Coasts and shelves
🇺🇸 United States and 3 morePacific angelshark
A flat-bodied ambush shark of the eastern Pacific coast.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1859
WorldSpinner shark
A fast requiem shark known for spinning leaps out of water.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1839
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreCaribbean reef shark
Large requiem shark of western Atlantic coral reefsShark · Coasts and shelves · 1876
🇦🇺 AustraliaGummy shark
A bottom-dwelling shark from southern Australia known for its crushing teeth and commercial fillets.Shark · Coasts and shelves
🇦🇺 AustraliaEpaulette shark
A small carpet shark that walks on coral reefs and survives low oxygen.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1788
WorldBigeye thresher
Deep-diving shark with huge eyes and a long tail.Shark · Open ocean · 1840
WorldGalapagos shark
Large requiem shark of tropical oceanic islandsShark · Coasts and shelves · 1905
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreBonnethead
A small hammerhead shark with a spade-shaped head and omnivorous diet.Shark · Coasts and shelves
WorldBlue shark
A slender, deep-blue oceanic shark found in temperate and tropical seas worldwide.Shark · Open ocean
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.
- Great white shark: Sharkdiver.com, Public domain, source
- Pelagic thresher: Pierre Pericard, CC BY 4.0, source
- Salmon shark: PIRO-NOAA Observer Program, Public domain, source
- Milk shark: Karunakar Rayker, CC BY 2.0, source
- Common thresher: User:Yzx, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Porbeagle: NOAA, Public domain, source
- Whale shark: User:Zac Wolf (original), en:User:Stefan (cropping), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Green sturgeon: Muséum d'histoire Naturelle, Public domain, source
- Tiger shark: Albert kok, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Broadnose sevengill shark: José María Pérez Nuñez, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pacific angelshark: Chris_huh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Spinner shark: Jean-Lou Justine, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Caribbean reef shark: Albert kok, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gummy shark: F. Schönfeld, Public domain, source
- Epaulette shark: This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / C, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bigeye thresher: PIRO-NOAA Observer Program, Public domain, source
- Galapagos shark: Andrew J. Green / Reef Life Survey, CC BY 4.0, source
- Bonnethead: Valerie Everett, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Blue shark: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tawny nurse shark: David Burdick, Public domain, source