Sympathy for the devil: a conservation strategy for devil and manta rays
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Abstract
Background. Increased interest in luxury products and Traditional Chinese Medicine, associated with economic growth in China, has been linked to depletion of both terrestrial and marine wildlife. Among the most rapidly emerging concerns with respect to these markets is the relatively new demand for gill plates, or Peng Yu Sai (“Fish Gills”), from devil and manta rays (subfamily Mobulinae). The high value of gill plates drives international trade supplied by largely unmonitored and unregulated bycatch and target fisheries around the world. Devil and manta rays are especially sensitive to overexploitation because of their exceptionally low productivity (maximum intrinsic rate of population increase). Scientific research, conservation campaigns, as well as international and national protections that restrict fishing or trade have increased in recent years. Many key protections, however, apply only to manta rays. Methods. We review the state of the development of scientific knowledge and capacity for these species, and summarise the geographic ranges, fisheries and national and international protections for these species. We use a conservation planning approach to develop the Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy, specifying a vision, goals, objectives, and actions to advance the conservation of both devil and manta rays. Results and Discussion. Generally, there is greater scientific attention and conservation focused on Manta compared to Devil Rays. We discuss how the successes in manta ray conservation can be expanded to benefit devil rays. We also examine solutions for the two leading threats to both devil and manta rays – bycatch and target fisheries. First, we examine how can the impact of bycatch fisheries can be reduced through international measures and best-practice handling techniques. Second, we examine the role that responsible trade and demand can play in reducing target fisheries for gill plates. Our paper suggests that given similarities in sensitivity and appearance, particularly of the dried gill plate product, conservation measures may need to be harmonised particularly for the larger species in this subfamily.
Cite this as
2016. Sympathy for the devil: a conservation strategy for devil and manta rays. PeerJ PrePrints 4:e1731v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1731v1note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
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This is a preprint submission to PeerJ Preprints.
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Supplemental Information
Images of devil and manta rays
(a) Reef Manta Ray (Manta alfredi); (b) Oceanic Manta Ray (Manta birostris); (c) Shortfin Devil Ray (Mobula kuhlii); (d) Smoothtail Devil Ray (Mobula munkiana).
Distribution maps for manta and devil ray species
Area of Occupancy (AOO) and Extent of Occurrence (EOO) maps for all nine species of devil ray: (a) Mobula japanica, (b) M. eregoodootenkee, (c) M. hypostoma, (d) M. rochebrunei, (e) M. kuhlii, (f) M. mobular, (g) M. munkiana, (h) M. tarapacana, (i) M. thurstoni; and both species of manta ray: (j) Manta alfredi, (k) M. birostris.
Expert representation at the Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy workshop and among respondents to the devil and manta ray survey
(a) The number of workshop attendees with expertise from each Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Major Fishing Area (MFA) is represented by degree of colour saturation. (b) Geographic FAO MFA expertise of devil and manta ray survey respondents. The grey outlines around the countries indicate the presence of one or more mobulid species, with grey saturation representing areas of mobulid Area of Occupancy overlap (>1 species).
Distribution of Parties to CITES and CMS with respect to ranges of (a) Manta spp. and (b) Mobula spp
Area of Occupancy (AOO) maps for single or multiple species of (a) manta ray (Manta spp.) in blue, and (b) devil ray (Mobula spp.) in green. Saturation of colour represents the degree which species’ ranges overlap: dark blue for manta ray and dark green for devil rays are areas with >1 species AOO. Country colour represents management implementation; Parties to both the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) are indicated in light yellow, Parties only to CITES are light grey, Parties only to CMS are dark yellow, and Non-Parties are in black. Also indicated are known target (T) and bycatch (B) fisheries adapted from Croll et al., 2015.
Distribution of national, territory, and state protections with respect to ranges of (a) Manta spp. and (b) Mobula spp
Area of Occupancy (AOO) maps for single or multiple species of (a) manta ray (Manta spp.) in blue, and (b) devil ray (Mobula spp.) in green. Saturation of colour represents the degree which species’ ranges overlap: dark blue for manta ray and dark green for devil rays are areas with >1 species AOO. Country colour represents national, territory, or state protections; purple represents those countries that have implemented both a fishing and trade restriction, yellow are those countries with only a fishing restriction. Small island countries are circled for visual purposes.
International, national, and territory/state protections currently in place for devil and manta rays
A summary of current international, national, and territory/state protections for the eleven species of devil (Mobula spp.) and manta (Manta spp.) rays, and the year that these protections were implemented.
The Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy
The complete text of the Global Devil and Manta Ray Conservation Strategy; including a vision, and a series of goals, objectives, and actions.
Additional Information
Competing Interests
The authors declare there are no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Julia M Lawson analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Rachel HL Walls conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Sonja V Fordham conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Mary P O'Malley analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Michelle R Heupel contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Guy Stevens conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Daniel Fernando contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Ania Budziak contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Colin A Simpfendorfer conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Lindsay NK Davidson contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Isabel Ender conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Malcolm P Francis contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Nicholas K Dulvy conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
The research in this article did not generate any raw data.
Funding
We thank the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada (NKD, LNKD), the Canada Research Chairs program (NKD), and the Save Our Seas Foundation project #235 (NKD) and #242 (DF). Support for workshop participants was provided by the Project AWARE Foundation (AB and Kerstin Forsberg), WildAid (MRH, MPO), and the New England Aquarium (Kerstin Forsberg). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Opinions expressed herein are of the authors only and do not imply endorsement by any agency or institution associated with the authors. Grant Disclosures The following grant information was disclosed by the authors: Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada. Canada Research Chairs program. Save Our Seas Foundation project: #235, #242 Save Our Seas Save Our Species project: #2013A-058, #2013A-069 US State Department Contribution to IUCN. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.