Several national, regional and international biodiversity conservation and fisheries management measures protect the Basking Shark throughout the territorial waters of European Union Member States (since 2007), in Norwegian waters (since 2006), in the United Kingdom (since 1998) and on the high seas of the Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea (2012).

In 2003, the European Commission (EC) prohibited EC vessels and non-EC vessels in EC water from removing shark fins and subsequent discarding of the body, and landed sharks needed to have a fin-to-carcass ratio of 5% of the shark’s whole (theoretical) weight. Member States could issue Special Fishing Permits allowing the removal of shark fins on board, which lead to difficulties enforcing the fin-to-carcass ratio and potentially allowed finning to go undetected. In 2013, the EU banned the removal of shark fins on board vessels (CEC 2013), in line with advice from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Shark Specialist Group and other shark fishery experts, in order to enhance enforcement of the 2003 EU ban on shark finning (CEC 2003) and facilitate improved shark fishery data collection.

On the high seas, this species is protected under the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Recommendation 4: 2012 under which Contracting Parties have agreed that no directed fishery for basking shark shall be undertaken in the Convention Area from 2012 to 2014. It is also protected under GFCM Recommendation GFCM/36/2012/1, which implements the listing in Annex II of the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean of the Barcelona Convention from 2012. This listing requires that all individuals caught in the Mediterranean Sea to be released unharmed and alive to the extent possible, therefore catches cannot be retained on board, transshipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold, displayed or offered for sale. Since 2007, the EU has followed ICES advice by prohibiting fishing for, retaining on board, transshipping or landing basking sharks by any vessel in EU waters or EU vessels fishing anywhere (Council regulation (EC) No 41/2006). Norway also adopted this advice in 2006.

This species is listed on numerous international agreements, including Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This requires international trade to be monitored and sourced only from sustainably managed fisheries. This species is also listed on Appendices I and II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) and the CMS Migratory Sharks Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The CMS Appendix I listing requires Parties to protect the Basking Shark within their territorial waters, while the CMS Appendix II listing and the MoU require Parties and Signatories to undertake collaborative actions for its conservation and management. Nonetheless, there are still reports every year of illegal landings and sale of this species in EU small-scale fisheries. The OSPAR Convention on the protection of the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic includes this species on the OSPAR list of threatened and/or declining species. Lastly, the Mediterranean Sea population only is listed on Appendix I of the Bern Convention for the Conservation of European Wildlife and Habitats.

National measures have also been put into place in multiple countries within the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. In waters surrounding the Isle of Man and Guernsey (United Kingdom dependent territories), and in British waters, this species has been strictly protected since 1998 within 12 nautical miles of the coastline, prohibiting killing, taking, disturbance, possession and sale. In 2006, all directed fisheries and landings were banned in the Norwegian Economical Zone and in ICES Areas I–XIV. Sweden has prohibited catches since 2004.

The ICES Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes considers that no directed fishery should be permitted unless a reliable estimate of a sustainable exploitation rate is available. Proper quantification of bycatch and discarding both in weight and numbers of this species in the entire ICES area is required. Where national legislation prohibits landing of incidentally caught basking sharks, measures should be put in place to ensure that incidental catches are recorded in weight and numbers, and carcasses or biological material made available for research.

Further research is needed on the population size and trend of the species.