2020 was a difficult year for Manta Trust , as it has for everyone . The introduction of lockdowns worldwide has meant that we have had few , if any , researchers in the water , monitoring local mobulid populations . While it is our dearest hope the so-called Anthropause has afforded manta rays a chance to thrive in oceans empty of tourists , there is also the threat of illegal fishing in seas that are largely devoid of people .
Mobulid rays have historically evaded commercial fishing , but in recent years a new market has opened for their gill plates which are used in Asian Medicine . Sadly , this was the case on 7 November 2020 , when $ 116k worth of gill raker , en route from Sri Lanka , was seized in Hong Kong .
Manta conservation – a brief history
Our Maldivian Manta Ray Project played a key role in gaining protection for manta rays in the Maldives . Data it collected identified an increase in pressure and threats to mantas from unrestricted tourism growth and local development , and led to the government declaring Hanifaru Bay – the site of a spectacular manta aggregation – a Marine Protected Area in 2009 .
We contributed critical data and expertise for the re-assessment to “ Vulnerable ” status of both species of manta on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2011 .
In March 2013 , after considerable pressure from the Manta Trust and collaborating NGOs , mantas were
MANTATRUST
listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ( CITES ). This legislation means that countries must prove that any international trade in manta gill plates is sustainable and non-detrimental to the survival of the species ; essentially an impossibility due to their conservative lifehistory traits . In 2016 , similar success at CITES was achieved for all species of devil ray too . In addition to CITES , all mobulid species are now also listed on Appendix I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species ( CMS ).
We established a genetics team who are collating a comprehensive library of tissue samples from all species of Mobulid ray , to develop a global Mobulid genetic ID kit . In 2017 we submitted a ' Concerted
Actions ' proposal to CMS to address
45