The distance that a sea wave has travelled, from its initiation to the coast where it breaks. The fetch controls the energy and height of a wave, and the longest fetch, and hence the dominant wave direction, will affect beach orientation and the direction of longshore drift. See Stephenson and Brander (2004) PPG 28 on the effect of fetch on a beach, and Davidson-Arnott et al. (2005) Geomorph. 68, 1–2 on sediment transport and fetch.