Inshore Fishery

An inshore fishery operates in nearshore coastal waters, typically inside a defined inshore limit such as the six-nautical-mile zone, using small vessels and static or low-mobility gear like pots, gillnets, handlines, and small trawls. It overlaps heavily with small-scale and artisanal fisheries and targets crab, lobster, whelk, inshore demersal fish, and shellfish. Inshore fisheries are managed close to the coast through licensing, gear and effort limits, and area closures, often by regional inshore bodies rather than offshore quota systems, because many stocks are sedentary or local. Conflicts with mobile offshore gear and with marine protected areas are common, and data are often thinner than for offshore quota stocks.