At this pivotal time, recognizing their economic value may help to encourage the protection of this enigmatic and now endangered species” “Interactions with manta rays are highly sought after by dive and snorkel tourists globally and contribute millions of dollars to tourism economies each year, particularly in developing nations. Senior Scientist and manta ray expert at MMF, Dr. This iconic species is not only extremely important from an ecological perspective, giant mantas also provide vast economic benefits to tourism industries around the world. In other words, as a species, they simply cannot reproduce fast enough to build back their numbers once they are depleted.” They reach sexual maturity relatively late in life, they give birth to a single offspring every few years in the wild, they do not look after or defend their young and the offspring themselves are vulnerable when they are small and may not survive. “They have an extremely conservative reproductive strategy. “Manta rays simply cannot withstand such pressures on their populations,” Dr. Sadly, their numbers have continued to decline. Manta rays cannot reproduce fast enough to build back their numbers once they are depleted. To curb the burgeoning trade in their body parts to Asia and to encourage more comprehensive conservation strategies for their populations around the world, the giant manta ray was listed on two of the most important global conservation treaties, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) in 2011 and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2013. The relatively new Asian-based trade seems to be impacting the giant manta more than other species of manta ray, with the unsustainable harvesting decimating their populations across the globe. Targeted for their gill plates – which they use to filter feed on small zooplankton from the water column – the unrelenting and increasing demand for their body parts has fueled both existing and emerging target fisheries. The announcement marks the end of a devastating two decades for this species. At this stage, 30% of sharks and rays are now threatened with extinction. The giant manta ray now joins over 16,000 endangered species to be assessed with this serious threat level. Today’s announcement serves to confirm what we have long suspected – this gentle marine giant is finding it hard to cope with intensifying anthropogenic pressures around the globe. An endangered listing is reserved for species with grave conservation concerns.
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