Manta rays face welfare threats from targeted fishing, bycatch, and tourism pressure, with their slow reproduction making population recovery from welfare violations extremely slow.
Manta ray welfare is deeply connected to conservation — their extremely slow reproduction means populations decimated by fishing recover over decades, not years. Individuals that die in fishing operations represent not just welfare costs but population-level consequences that echo for generations. Targeted fishing for gill plates causes welfare harm (drowning as active rays cannot breathe) for a product with no proven medical benefit. Bycatch deaths are preventable through fishery management. Supporting the growing manta ray tourism industry, which provides economic incentives for live manta protection, is one of the most effective practical welfare interventions available.