How manta rays face welfare threats from fishing bycatch, gill plate harvesting, and tourism interactions, and what protections are being developed.
Manta ray welfare encompasses threats from targeted harvesting, incidental bycatch, and the subtler harm of tourism disturbance. As animals that travel vast distances, use specific cleaning stations for parasite removal, and may have sophisticated cognitive capacities suggested by their large brain size, manta rays have welfare needs that extend well beyond simple protection from direct killing. The gill plate trade kills tens of thousands of mantas annually for a product with no proven medical value. Bycatch in trawl and longline fisheries causes entanglement deaths. And repeated boat disturbance of cleaning stations reduces their access to this important health behaviour. Protection of mantas requires addressing all these threats simultaneously.