The inshore water areas are the major habitats and fishing grounds of many commercial species. Chinese inshore fisheries accounts for more than 90% of the total marine catches, and is an important resource of high-quality proteins for Chinese people. Currently the inshore fishery resources have been markedly declining due to the combination of overfishing and other excessive human activities (e.g. large-scale reclamation, pollution and mariculture). The sustainable production of many inshore fishery species has been impaired by adverse ecological change, such as the eutrophication-induced red tide and jellyfish bloom, and the fragmentation and defunctionalization of spawning and nursery grounds caused by the loss of wetlands. The recruitment of fishery populations is generally regulated by the interaction between the biological and physical processes in marine ecosystems which can be largely affected by the changes in environmental factors. To better understand the succession of marine ecosystem and sustainable yield of marine fishery populations, it is crucial to investigate how environmental changes affect the habitats and recruitment of fishery populations, especially at their early life stages. In this paper we reviewed literatures regarding these topics and analyzed the current situation of Chinese inshore fishery and the relevant problems of inshore ecosystems. We proposed and discussed four promising topics in future study: 1) fundamental and long-term changes in spawning and nursery grounds of fishery populations; 2) recruitment of fishery populations and the environmental driving forces; 3) adaptive strategies of fishery populations to environmental changes; and 4) evaluation of the effects of environmental changes on fishery population dynamics. These prospective studies are expected to provide essential knowledge that helps with the conservation of fishery habitats and resources as well as the improvement of sustainable development of inshore fisheries in China.