Manta rays are large, long-lived, slow-reproducing fish that are disproportionately affected by bycatch, targeted fishing for gill plates, and disturbance from poorly managed diving tourism at aggregation sites.
Manta ray welfare is threatened by both direct exploitation and indirect bycatch. Entanglement in gill nets set for other species leads to slow drowning — mantas must swim continuously to ventilate their gills, and immobility in a net is fatal. The gill plate trade drives targeted fishing that removes individuals whose longevity and slow reproduction make population recovery extremely slow. Poorly managed dive tourism adds chronic disturbance at critical aggregation sites where mantas visit to have parasites cleaned by reef fish — harassment by divers can prevent cleaning station visits and increase parasite loads. The cognitive sophistication suggested by manta brain anatomy raises the possibility that they experience stress in ways more complex than simpler fish species, making disturbance harms ethically more significant.