Basking sharks, the world's second-largest fish, were historically hunted for liver oil and now face bycatch threats in net fisheries despite legal protections.
Basking sharks entangled in fishing nets experience acute panic and drowning stress as they are unable to maintain the forward motion required for ram ventilation of their gills. Sharks that escape entanglement may carry embedded hooks or net fragments causing chronic injury and infection. Historical slaughter by harpoon caused acute and prolonged suffering during a now-prohibited fishery. Despite legal protection, incidental mortality from bycatch in net fisheries continues to affect a slow-reproducing population with very limited capacity for recovery.