Manta rays are among the most charismatic marine megafauna, but targeted fishing for their gill plates for traditional medicine has severely depleted populations faster than their slow reproduction can sustain.
Manta rays captured in targeted fisheries experience significant welfare harm. Entanglement in gillnets causes drowning, as these obligate swimmers cannot stop moving without suffocating. Captured mantas on longlines experience extended stress from restraint and gill irrigation disruption. In some fisheries, mantas are hauled out of the water and killed on deck through suffocation or blunt trauma. The extreme longevity of manta rays, which may live 40+ years, means that individual welfare impacts persist across decades of suffering if wounds from net entanglement are non-lethal. Population-level declines mean that remaining individuals face reduced social interactions in species that are known to engage in courtship trains involving multiple individuals. The combination of slow reproduction and welfare-compromising exploitation makes manta ray conservation both an individual welfare and a population viability priority.