Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) > Fish |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Cetorhinus maximus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Gunnerus, 1765) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Globally endangered & still knowledge gaps for this species, |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Species specific research required. |
| 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: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 1. Taxonomy established |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Threatened by accidental bycatch in set nets, trawls, and entanglement in pot lines. Surface feeding activity and vertical movement increase interactions with boat traffic, wildlife tourism and fishing activities, both industrial and recreational. Coastal development, pollution and bottom fishing affect coastal water quality and food sources. Pressures outside of England. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Identify areas that support key life stages of basking sharks (including feeding and breeding) and how climate change could potentially shift those geographically and temporally.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Quantification of bycatch, fate and discarding, in numbers and estimated weight is required. Discard survival rates have not been estimated.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Pressure mitigation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Special attention should be drawn to any coastal development project, and potential habitat and/or hotspots included in national or regional marine spatial planning.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Update England Red List status
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
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.