Basking sharks have undergone a history of extensive hunting. In British seas, the peak period for basking shark fisheries occurred in the 1950s. Various parts of the sharks' bodies have been used by man:
- Liver oil has been used as lamp oil and as a lubricant.
- Squaline extracted from the oil has been used in cosmetics.
- The rough skin has functioned as sandpaper and been used in leather products such as shoes.
- Insulin has been extracted from the pancreas.
- Flesh has served as an ingredient in fish meal.
- In some parts of the world, fins are still a delicacy in soups.
Basking sharks are slow growing fish which take many years to reach sexual maturity and give birth to only a few young at a time.These characteristics make the species vulnerable to overfishing and unstable when numbers are low.
Up to 100,000 basking sharks may have been killed in the North Atlantic alone over the past century. The species is now listed as endangered and is protected up to 12 miles from land in British waters. Basking sharks also recieved Appendix II listing from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2002, making trade of basking shark products illegal.
The sharks biggest threats nowadays are accidental "by-catch" in fishing gear such as gill nets and lobster pot ropes, and collisions with jet skies, water skies and boats. With protection, it is hoped basking shark numbers will recover.
By gathering information about basking shark behaviour we can provide decision makers with data to inform conservation strategies like the development of Marine Protected Areas. We hope the publicity generated by the project this year and in future years will encourage more people to report sightings of live and dead basking sharks all year round.
