| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | CHONDRICHTHYES | LAMNIFORMES | CETORHINIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Cetorhinus maximus | |||
| Species Authority | (Gunnerus, 1765) | |||
| Infra-specific Authority: | (Gunnerus, 1765) | |||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Endangered A1ad ver 2.3 |
| Year Assessed: | 2000 |
| Assessor/s | Fowler, S.L. |
| Evaluator/s: | Musick, J.A. & Fowler, S. (Shark Red List Authority) |
|
Justification: A very large filter-feeding cold-water pelagic species, widely distributed but only regularly seen in a few favoured coastal locations and probably never very abundant. Documented fisheries in several regions have usually been characterised by rapidly declining local populations as a result of short-term fisheries exploitation, followed by very slow or no recorded population recovery. There is likely potential for similar population declines to occur in the future from directed and bycatch fisheries, driven at least in part by the demand for fins in international trade. Basking sharks are now legally protected in some territorial waters. Compagno (1984) considers the basking shark "to be extremely vulnerable to overfishing, perhaps more so than most sharks ... ascribed to its slow growth rate, lengthy maturation time, long gestation period, probably low fecundity and probable small size of existing populations (belied by the immense size of individuals in their small schools)." |
|
| Countries: |
Native:
Canada; China; Japan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Mexico; Russian Federation; United States
|
| FAO Marine Fishing Areas: |
Native:
Pacific; Pacific
|
| Population Trend: |
Decreasing
|
| Systems: | Marine |
| Citation: | IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 12 October 2008. |
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