Blonde ray

Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-16

A large, pale, heavily spotted ray of clean offshore banks — told from the spotted ray by one thing: its dark spots run right to the very edge of the wing.

Safety

Injury while handling fish — Minor injury

Rays carry thorns and prickles along the back and tail, and the mouth contains crushing plates strong enough to break crab shell. A hand run along the back of a large ray, or a finger near the mouth during unhooking, is cut or crushed.

What reduces it: Handle a ray by supporting the underside of the disc rather than running a hand over the back. Keep fingers away from the mouth and use long-nosed pliers or a T-bar. Watch the tail, which carries the heaviest thorns.

Worse when:

Unhooking a large fish on a moving boat deck.
Working in the dark, where the thorn line on the tail cannot be seen.

Fish welfare — Can cause injury needing treatment

A ray lifted by one wing tip is carrying its whole weight on a joint never built for it, and wing and pectoral damage is a common, serious and entirely avoidable injury. Rays are also frequently stood upright on their wing tips or laid on hot dry decks for photographs.

What reduces it: Support the whole disc from underneath, or unhook the fish in the water or flat on a wet surface without lifting it. Never lift by a wing tip and never stand a ray on its wings. Keep air exposure short and return the fish flat.

Worse when:

Photographing large fish, where the unsupported lifting happens.
Hot dry decks and shingle, which damage the underside directly.
Slow life history: a ray killed by handling is replaced far more slowly than a bony fish of the same size.

Precautions that always apply here

Wet your hands before touching a fish. Dry hands strip the protective mucus layer that keeps infection out.
Support the fish's weight along its body, keep it out of the water for as short a time as possible, and hold it over something soft.
Keep fingers out of the gills and clear of the teeth. Gill damage is usually fatal to the fish, and several species will remove skin from a finger.
If a hook goes past the barb into a person, cut the line, leave the hook where it is, and get medical help. Pulling it back out does far more damage than pushing it through under proper care.

The blonde ray is the big pale ray of clean sand and shingle banks, and it is the one most often misidentified because it shares its pattern with a smaller and commoner relative.

THE DIAGNOSTIC IS THE WING MARGIN. A blonde ray's small dark spots continue all the way to the extreme edge of the wing. A spotted ray's spots stop noticeably short of the margin, leaving a clean unspotted border. That is the character to look at, and it works regardless of size, condition or how faded the fish is.

IT IS ALSO GENUINELY LARGE. Blonde rays exceed a metre across the wings and can approach a metre and a half, which makes them one of the heaviest rays a British boat angler is likely to meet and a serious proposition on the ground they inhabit.

THE GROUND IS CLEAN AND MOVING. Sandbanks, clean shingle, and the edges of offshore banks with tide running over them. This is not a rough-ground fish, and it is caught far more often from boats than from beaches.

Identification

FishingHQ holds no photograph of this species whose identity and licensing it can vouch for, so it is not showing one. Misidentified fish photographs teach identification wrongly, and a picture with an unchecked caption would be worse than none. The identification points below are what to look at instead.

Scientific name: Raja brachyura
Family: Rajidae
Water: Saltwater
Conservation status: Near Threatened
Regions: Britain & Ireland, Western Europe, Northern Europe, Mediterranean

THE SPOTS REACH THE VERY EDGE OF THE WING. This is the diagnostic character and it separates blonde from spotted ray reliably. On a spotted ray the dark spots stop short of the margin, leaving a clean border; on a blonde they run right out to it.
Many small dark spots, densely scattered, on a pale sandy or fawn-brown back — often with scattered small pale blotches among them.
Large. Commonly over a metre across the wings and reaching around 1.2 m or more, considerably bigger than a spotted ray.
The snout is short and the disc broad and rather angular, with the wings meeting the snout at a blunt angle.
No venomous spine on the tail — thorns and prickles along the back and tail, but nothing that injects. That distinguishes every Raja from a stingray.
Caught over clean sand and shingle banks with tide, generally offshore, rather than over rough rocky ground.

Size

Typical: 70 cm–1 m across the wings, 4–9 kg.
Large: Over 1.1 m and 12 kg is a very good blonde ray.

Exceptional: Around 1.2 m or a little more across the wings is the widely reported upper end, and the largest fish are females.

Lifecycle and reproduction

Oviparous, like all the true skates and rays of the family Rajidae. The female lays large, tough, dark, roughly rectangular egg capsules with a stiff horn projecting from each corner, deposited onto clean sand and gravel rather than anchored to weed. The embryo develops inside on its yolk for many months, and the young emerge as fully formed miniature rays able to feed at once. Growth is slow, maturity is late, and the number of eggs a female produces in a season is measured in tens rather than in the millions a bony fish of comparable size would spawn.

Egg-laying takes place over an extended season, with capsules deposited on the clean sand and shingle ground the species inhabits. Because a female produces a modest number of large, slow-developing eggs and matures late, the species' capacity to replace losses is far below that of the bony fish caught on the same ground — the general elasmobranch pattern, and the reason ray stocks respond slowly to changes in fishing pressure. Empty capsules wash ashore and are the large, horned, dark mermaid's purses distinguishable from the small tendrilled catshark cases.

Feeding and senses

A bottom predator taking fish and crustaceans, with fish forming a greater part of the diet than in most of the smaller rays — sandeels, small flatfish, gadoids and whatever the sandbank holds, together with crabs, prawns and shrimps. A blonde ray hunts by settling over prey and trapping it beneath the disc, then working it back to the mouth on the underside. The practical consequence is that fish baits do better for blonde ray than for several of the smaller ray species, and that a bait presented hard on the bottom is what the fish is built to find.

Smell and the ampullae of Lorenzini do most of the work. The mouth is on the underside and the eyes are on top, so a feeding ray cannot see what it is eating: it locates buried and hidden prey by scent and by detecting the electric fields living muscle produces, then settles over it. That is why bait presentation matters far less than bait freshness and scent, and why a ray will find a bait in complete darkness and coloured water.

Through the year

Present in British and Irish waters year-round with pronounced seasonal inshore movements: fish move onto shallower banks and closer ground as water warms through spring and summer and back into deeper water as it cools. The best fishing is widely reported in the warmer half of the year over inshore banks, but this varies by region and there is no honest national calendar for it.

Distribution

North-east Atlantic from southern Scandinavia and the North Sea south to Morocco, including the whole of the British Isles and Ireland, and into the western Mediterranean. Associated with clean sand and shingle ground from shallow inshore banks down to around 150 m, with the strongest British populations in the south and west. Listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened, reflecting the slow life history the group shares and a distribution that is patchier and more localised than the thornback's.

This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.

Why anglers care

One of the principal boat ray species of southern and western Britain and Ireland, and the largest of the spotted rays an angler is likely to meet. Ray fishing over clean offshore banks is a distinct branch of UK boat angling built around holding bottom in tide with a bait a ray can settle on, and the blonde is the fish most of it is aimed at. It is also the species that most exposes the identification problem, because a large spotted ray is routinely recorded as a blonde without anybody checking the wing margin.

Handling and returning

Rays have no swim bladder, so a fish from depth has no barotrauma and releases genuinely well — which is why release is the expectation rather than a gesture. SUPPORT THE WHOLE DISC. A ray lifted by one wing tip is being lifted by a joint that was never built to carry it, and wing damage is a common and entirely avoidable injury. Slide a hand under the body and support it flat, or better, unhook it in the water or on a wet flat surface without lifting it at all. Keep hands away from the mouth, which contains crushing plates strong enough to break a crab and will do the same to a finger. Watch the tail on any species that carries thorns or a spine. Use long-nosed pliers or a T-bar, and cut the trace close if the hook cannot be reached. Do not drag a ray up shingle, and do not stand it on its wing tips for a photograph.

The wing-margin test, and why every other character is weaker

Two British rays are covered in small dark spots, and they are told apart by where the spots stop.

ON A BLONDE RAY THE SPOTS REACH THE VERY EDGE OF THE WING. Look at the outermost few millimetres of the disc: the dark spotting continues right out to the margin, with no clean border.

ON A SPOTTED RAY THE SPOTS STOP SHORT. There is a clear unspotted band around the outer edge of the wing, and the spotting is confined inside it.

THAT IS THE TEST, AND IT IS THE ONLY ONE THAT HOLDS. It does not depend on the size of the fish, its condition, how faded it is, or how good the light is, and it can be checked in a second on a wet deck.

SIZE IS A PRIOR, NOT A PROOF. A blonde ray commonly exceeds a metre across the wings; a spotted ray rarely reaches 80 centimetres. So a very large spotted ray is probably a blonde. But the overlap band exists, and it is exactly where anglers guess.

THE PALE BLOTCHES ARE SUGGESTIVE AND NOT DECISIVE. Blonde rays frequently show scattered small pale spots mixed among the dark ones. Spotted rays frequently show a dark eye-like marking on each wing. Both are useful impressions and both vary.

AND NEITHER IS A THORNBACK. A thornback ray carries conspicuous stout thorns with broad bases along the back and tail — bucklers you can feel and see — and a much more blotched, marbled pattern. If the fish has obvious large thorns, the spotting question does not arise.

NOR IS EITHER A STINGRAY. No Raja has a venomous spine. Prickles and thorns, yes; an injecting serrated spine on a whip tail, no. If the tail carries a spine and there are no dorsal fins, the fish is a stingray and is handled completely differently.

WHY IT MATTERS ENOUGH TO CHECK. These species do not share a conservation status, they do not share a distribution, and they are not treated identically by every administration. An angler recording every spotted ray as a blonde produces records that cannot distinguish a healthy population from a declining one — and the recording schemes that track these species depend on anglers getting exactly this right.

NOTHING HERE STATES WHETHER THIS FISH MAY BE KEPT, what minimum size applies, or whether it is protected where you are fishing. Several British skates and rays are protected in some administrations and not in others, the designations are revised, and the answer differs between England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland. Ask the fisheries authority for the water you are fishing before you go.

Authoritative guidance

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including the skates and rays.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement, depth range and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Clean banks, tide, and a fish that hunts what it cannot see

Blonde ray fishing is sandbank fishing, and the ground is most of the answer.

THE GROUND IS CLEAN AND THE TIDE IS MOVING. Sand, clean shingle, and the flanks and edges of offshore banks where tide runs across them. Blonde rays are not a rough-ground species, and a mark that produces conger and huss is not a mark that produces blondes.

BANK EDGES DO THE WORK. The productive spots are generally the slopes and downtide edges of banks rather than the flat tops, because that is where tide concentrates food and where prey is displaced.

DEPTH IS MODERATE AND SEASONAL. Fish move onto shallower inshore banks as water warms and back into deeper water as it cools, so the same species is a summer inshore fish and a winter offshore one. There is no honest month-by-month national calendar; the pattern is temperature-driven and regional.

HOLDING BOTTOM IS THE WHOLE TACKLE PROBLEM. A bait that is moving is a bait a ray cannot settle on. Grip leads, sufficient weight for the tide, and a rig that keeps the bait hard on the bottom are what the fishing requires, and this is where most blank sessions are lost.

THE BAIT IS FISH MORE OFTEN THAN FOR OTHER RAYS. Blondes take a greater proportion of fish in their diet than several of the smaller rays, so sandeel, launce and fish strip are conventional, often in combination with squid for durability in tide.

AND THE FISH HUNTS WITHOUT SEEING. Eyes on top, mouth underneath: a feeding ray cannot look at its food. It finds prey by scent and by the electric fields of living tissue, settles over it, traps it under the disc and works it to the mouth. Two things follow. Presentation subtlety is nearly irrelevant, and bait freshness and scent are nearly everything.

THE BITE IS OFTEN NOT A BITE. A ray settling on a bait frequently registers as weight, a slackening, or the rod tip simply pulling over slowly rather than rattling. Waiting for a decisive rattle is how ray bites get missed.

AND THE FISH RELEASES WELL, WHICH MATTERS. No swim bladder means no barotrauma, so a ray brought up from a bank can go back successfully — provided it is supported across the whole disc rather than lifted by a wing tip, and provided it is not stood on its wings for a photograph.

Practitioner consensus

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, tackle convention and species behaviour.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including the skates and rays.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where to go next

Similar and related fish

Lesser sandeelSandeels over clean sand are a major part of the diet, and the reason fish baits outperform crab baits for this species.

What these connections rest on (1)

Scientific evidence — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

Lesser sandeel
A dietary claim made at SPECIES level because the reference works identify the prey to species: the evidence is about Ammodytes marinus specifically, which is what a preys_on edge against that record asserts.
- The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: The diet of the British sharks, skates and rays as set out in the species accounts, in which Ammodytes marinus is identified to species among the recorded prey.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Feeding habits and prey composition for the eastern Atlantic elasmobranchs, including the occurrence of Ammodytes marinus in the diet.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How it is caught

What these connections rest on (2)

Practitioner consensus — 2 connections

Drift fishing
A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Ledgering
A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Gear for this fish

What these connections rest on (2)

Practitioner consensus — 2 connections

Fish strip and cut bait
A bait joined to the quarry it is conventionally used for. Convention, recorded as convention.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Sand eel
A bait joined to the quarry it is conventionally used for. Convention, recorded as convention.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where it lives

What these connections rest on (2)

Scientific evidence — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

Inshore ground
A distributional claim about where a species is found, which rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.
- The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Open ocean
A distributional claim about where a species is found, which rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.
- The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Understanding this fish

What these connections rest on (2)

Scientific evidence — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

Decapod crustaceans as prey
A dietary claim recorded at GROUP level against a modelled prey concept, because the sources describe the prey as a group and selecting a species for the edge to point at would assert a precision the evidence does not carry.
- The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How fish detect prey
A record pointing at the mechanism that explains its own behaviour, so the explanation lives once rather than on every species page.
- The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the sharks, skates and rays of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Told apart from

What these connections rest on (3)

Authoritative guidance — 3 connections

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

Small-eyed ray
Two records a reader must hold together, because the animals are confused with one another in the hand and the consequences of getting it wrong are not symmetrical.
- Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Spotted ray
Two records a reader must hold together, because the animals are confused with one another in the hand and the consequences of getting it wrong are not symmetrical.
- Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Thornback ray
Two records a reader must hold together, because the animals are confused with one another in the hand and the consequences of getting it wrong are not symmetrical.
- Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Safety reading

Handling fish safelyThorns along the back and tail, crushing plates in the mouth, and a disc that must be supported whole — a ray lifted by one wing tip is loading a joint that cannot carry it.

What these connections rest on (1)

Authoritative guidance — 1 connection

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

Handling fish safely
A hazard the species genuinely presents, joined to the record that explains how to manage it.
- Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British sharks, skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Environment and conservation

Fish stocks and sustainabilityAssessed as Near Threatened. Slow growth, late maturity and a modest number of large slow-developing eggs, on a species whose distribution is patchier than the thornback's.

What these connections rest on (1)

Scientific evidence — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

Fish stocks and sustainability
A conservation claim about a species with a documented assessment, joined to the environmental issue it exemplifies.
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The global Red List category and the population assessment behind it for the species concerned.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Cefas science, advice and data on marine and freshwater environments — Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: UK marine fisheries science: survey data, distribution and elasmobranch stock monitoring in UK waters.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Check the rules before you fish

Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.

Check with:

Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
Current local bylaws
The relevant fisheries authority
The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use

Sources for this page

The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including the skates and rays.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement, depth range and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Shark Trust identification guides and angling best practice — The Shark Trust (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Identification characters separating the British skates and rays, and the handling, unhooking and release practice asked of anglers.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The global Red List category for this species and the population assessment behind it, as published in the assessment dated 15 April 2023. Recorded with its date because a Red List category is revised, and a status with no date is a claim with no shelf life.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, tackle convention and species behaviour.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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