Coasts and shelves
Shallow seas over the continental shelf. 26 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 States and 4 moreSea lamprey
A jawless, parasitic fish native to the Northern Hemisphere that attacks other fish.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇵🇭 Philippines and 4 moreMilkfish
The sole living species of the family Chanidae, found across the Indo-Pacific.Other · Coasts and shelves
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAtlantic sturgeon
A large anadromous fish native to the western Atlantic Ocean and its river systems.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreShortnose sturgeon
A small, endangered North American sturgeon with a short snout.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1818
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreGar
Ancient armored fish with lung-like swim bladders found in North American waters.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758
WorldLamprey
Jawless fish with a sucking mouth found in temperate waters worldwide.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreBlack crappie
A spotted freshwater sunfish native to North America, prized by anglers for its sport and table fare.Perch-like · Rivers and lakes · 1856
WorldGiant oceanic manta ray
The world's largest ray, a massive filter-feeding predator of tropical oceans.Ray · Coasts and shelves · 1827
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreSiberian sturgeon
Large freshwater sturgeon native to Siberian riversAncient · Rivers and lakes
WorldBasking shark
The second-largest living fish, a slow-moving filter feeder found in temperate oceans worldwide.Shark · Coasts and shelves · 1765
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePacific lamprey
An anadromous parasitic jawless fish found along the Pacific Rim.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1872
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAlewife
A small North American herring that migrates between sea and rivers.Herring · Coasts and shelves
WorldAnglerfish
Ray-finned fish using a modified dorsal fin ray as a lure to catch prey.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1829
🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreArgentinian silverside
A large, adaptable silverside native to South America.Other · Rivers and lakes
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sea lamprey: Fernando Losada Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Milkfish: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Atlantic sturgeon: Jiaqian AirplaneFan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shortnose sturgeon: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Gar: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Lamprey: Tiit Hunt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Black crappie: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain, source
- Giant oceanic manta ray: jon hanson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Siberian sturgeon: This illustration was made by Citron You must credit this : Citron / C, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Basking shark: Greg Skomal / NOAA Fisheries Service, Public domain, source
- Pacific lamprey: Dave Herasimtschuk, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Public domain, source
- Alewife: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Anglerfish: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Argentinian silverside: CHUCAO, CC BY-SA 3.0, source