Vendace (Coregonus albula)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bony fish (Actinopterygii) > Fish |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Coregonus albula |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Nunn et al., 2023 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Only two native populations remain in England and climate change means long term viability of current habitat is low. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Monitoring required of index sites and water quality needs to be managed at these specific sites. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Would benefit from wider habitat management that will impact the Lakes (i.e. sediment management) |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Monitoring of this species on a lake by lake basis relies heavily on hydroacoustic monitoring by boat, and this is no longer routinely undertaken. Monitoring constraints currently exist due to training requirements needed to meet Coastguard regulations. Monitoring is entirely insufficient at present. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Implement regular monitoring within Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water to record population trends and efficacy of catchment restoration actions related to water quality and naturalised hydrology. Population statistics will be used to inform decision making regarding future translocation efforts.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake in the English Lake District
Comments: Should include monitoring of appropriate index sites to allow the health of each population to be assessed & to document the success of restoration activity.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Work with the Environment Agency and stakeholders to encourage the enforcement of byelaws banning live baiting on Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water. Biosecurity measures should go further to ensure other invasive non-native fish species such as zander, common carp and wels catfish etc. do not become established in the lakes.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Legal protection
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake in the English Lake District
Comments: Invasive non-native species (Roach Rutilus rutilus, Dace Leuciscus leuciscus, Ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus) have been introduced into both Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water presenting challenges to vendace from competition and egg predation.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Apply Defra's Code for Reintroduction and Conservation Translocations to determine feasibility and approach to further translocation of vendace to establish ark populations, if required.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Bassenthwaite
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.