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Marine Wildlife Victory: Why New Protections for Manta Rays and Sharks Change Everything · How To Protect The Ocean

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New protections for manta rays and sharks that score a major
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victory in shark protections.
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In this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast, we're diving into
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an incredible story on how these ocean giants just got a powerful new
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shield of protection and what it means for the future of our seas.
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So join us as we reveal the challenges these animals faced, the winds we
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achieved, and why this breakthrough can change the game for ocean conservation.
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Stay tuned.
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You're not gonna wanna miss this one.
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Let's start the show.
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Hey everybody.
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Welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, marine biologist and science communicator
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here to tell you about what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up
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for the ocean, what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action.
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And on today's episode, we're gonna be talking about new protections
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underneath this international trade law called CITES and it's protecting
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manta rays, devil rays, shark species like oceanic white tips, smooth
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hammerheads, and even thresher sharks.
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There are also other oceanic animals that are protected.
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Some reef fish and some sea cucumbers that people don't always talk about.
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But we're gonna be focusing in on the sharky, the elasmobranchs types, because
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that's what people love to hear about.
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It's a huge win in terms of protection.
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It's gonna ban a lot of international trade of these animals.
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We're gonna talk about why this is so important.
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We're gonna talk about what other successes have been had at this level.
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It's gonna be really good and you're gonna love it, and we talk about successes.
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Successes come when we talk about different species and the
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different types of protection.
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And today we're gonna be talking about sharks.
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We're gonna focus on that.
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But there are a lot of other things that don't get the right
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attention, like seagrasses.
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And if you've heard this podcast any time in the last month, you know
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that I have a podcast that I want to launch called The Seagrass Effect.
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It's talking about the protection of seagrass meadows, the conservation,
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the research, the restoration and just talking about seagrass meadows and their
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importance, their biodiversity importance, how there's such a productive habitat to
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be able to protect small fish, juvenile fish, and invertebrates to be able to say,
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Hey, you know what, we're gonna protect these so that they can move to other
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habitats, such as mangroves, such as coral reefs and other habitats in the ocean
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that are super, super important.
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So we're gonna be starting, we're gonna be launching a podcast
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based on crowdfunding research.
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if you go to speak up for blue.com/seagrass, you can help
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crowdfund this podcast today.
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The launch is gonna happen once we reach our goal.
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It's gonna happen for the whole year.
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We're gonna do one episode a week for the entire year, once this crowdfunding
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campaign gets funded to its goal.
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Go to speak up for blue.com/seagrass to help us hear more about seagrass
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and talk more about seagrass so that we can not only share it amongst
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ourselves and you, the audience, and the Speak Up for Blue community as
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part of this podcast network, but also for people in the research business.
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Some people in the conservation business, people in the restoration
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business who don't know about all the different studies and all the different
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people and haven't heard from them in a while, and they wanna maybe connect.
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They can connect through this podcast by listening to it, by listening
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to their colleagues and what kind of research and work that they're doing.
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And it can all happen on the Seagrass Effect.
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Go to speak up for blue.com/seagrass to help fund and launch this podcast.
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It's gonna be very, very important.
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So, that's something to look forward to in the future.
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Okay, so let's start off with a backstory about these species.
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So you have manta rays, devil rays, you have a number of different shark species.
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All these species were hunted.
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They were hunted for parts of them that would be traded
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across national boundaries.
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So across country lines so people can buy them and use them for
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whatever they want to use them for.
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Some mentioned, you know, the demand for shark fins, manta ray gill plates that
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were used for cultural and medicinal purposes, and how this international
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trade put them in a decline.
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So the fact is, the demand for these animals, the parts of these animals,
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shark fin soup, these gill plates, these manta ray gill plates were causing
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these animals to be in higher demand than they should have been that make them
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unsustainable in terms of a population.
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Meaning there were more of them being hunted than were being kept so that the
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population could persist and do more.
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Now with devil rays and manta rays, we don't really know a ton about them.
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We know a lot there are.
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There's the Manta Trust, and we know more than we've had in the last few decades.
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However, we still don't know a lot about them.
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We still don't know their full distribution.
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We don't know what makes 'em tick.
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We don't know how their migration patterns help them survive and how it makes them
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vulnerable to other trade and legal implications in terms of being hunted.
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And so there are a lot of things that we still don't know.
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We need to protect them from that.
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In the meantime, we need to protect them from being hunted.
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And so the demand for their gill plates has to stop.
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And so we had to make sure that the protections are put in place.
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Same with thresher sharks, same with the smooth hammerhead shark,
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same with oceanic white tip.
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Their populations were dwindling because they were being hunted mostly
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for fish, like through fishing, and not just for fins, but through fishing.
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So they were not being regulated well.
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A lot of reports were coming out that they were in decline.
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And so they needed to be that extra protection.
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Now, for the first thing here is they were already protected under CITES.
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Now CITES is known as Convention on International Trade in Endangered
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Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
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So it's the Convention of International Trade and Endangered
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Species is what CITES stands for.
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If they're put on this actual list, in the CITES list, these animals, then
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there's II different appendices, right?
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If you were on Appendix, I believe it was first they were put on Appendix II.
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So they were added in Appendix II.
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They have some restrictions that are applied to it.
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Species that are not necessarily currently threatened with extinction, but
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trade of them is regulated so that it is legal, sustainable, and traceable.
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So any kind of illegal trade going in and out of countries was banned.
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They were monitored a little bit more frequently.
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There was research protections that were put on so they
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could get extra research done.
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There's money to study them a little bit more.
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International trade requires export permits with non detrimental findings.
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So evidence of trade will not harm the survival of these animals,
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like the whole population.
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So everything was monitored.
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There was more research priorities too, and there was
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more money for research for them.
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So that was really helpful.
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However, there was no excessive ban on these species.
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Whale sharks were put in 2003, basking sharks as well
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as in 2003 on the Appendix II.
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In 2016, thresher sharks, silky sharks were added to Appendix II as well.
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Now, Appendix II doesn't ban outright trade, but it does
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allow for specific restrictions as long as they're not being harmed.
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They're allowed to be traded as long as there's proof that
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they're not being harmed, the population is not being harmed.
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Appendix I has the highest protection.
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International commercial trade and species or parts or derivatives of
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those species is generally prohibited unless there's some kind of exception
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with very limited exemption.
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So there are times when you can trade 'em, but it's very, very limited.
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So the protection is a lot more in terms of this international trade.
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So some of the sharks were upgraded to Appendix I, and that was at a
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most recent conference at COP20, the Convention of Parties on CITES.
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20 is the 20th meeting in 2025.
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So certain species including oceanic white tip, sharks, thresher sharks as well.
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Smooth hammerhead sharks have been moved to Appendix I banning international
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trade, commercial trade of that species.
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Manta rays and devil rays were the same as well.
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So for certain rays that would then end the larger sharks.
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So whale sharks, they were also the same set.
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Proposed certain rays, meaning trade bans or near complete bans for international
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commerce of their body parts or specimens.
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So that's pretty cool.
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There's been extra protections, which is great.
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It does mean that these animals were still threatened and their populations
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were still threatened because of those traits, because they were getting hunted.
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So now that some of these species have Appendix I status, it means that
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they can't get traded in whoever's part of this Convention of Parties
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through these countries legally.
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It can't happen.
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It won't happen unless there's specific exemptions for that.
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the first question I had when we started looking at the levels of protection, I
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started looking at what other animals, especially ocean animals, were added
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to this Appendix I for CITES that showed a benefit to the species.
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'Cause like sometimes when we have these international agreements, they're not
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enforced very well and some countries will enforce it more than others.
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And usually it's in the countries where the species is really sold or
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really traded with a lot of culturally significant priorities on it.
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And so they're not enforced in necessarily those countries.
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Now when they are enforced though, it does actually add success.
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So for the Mediterranean monk seal that was added to the Appendix
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I, they were pretty widespread at one point, but over time they got
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pushed to the brink of extinction.
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Part of the reason was they were hunted historically for their
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skins and oil and their habitats were also disturbed by humans.
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So when they got listed under stricter international protections,
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it helped reduce the lingering pressure from trade and gave local
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conservation groups more support to protect their remaining habitats.
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As a result, their numbers have actually started to show some slow
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recovery, especially in protected areas.
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And then for the Hawaiian Monk Seal, the story is a bit similar.
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They faced a lot of threats from things like entanglement and
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fishing gear and loss of habitat.
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So not necessarily hunted, but it's still similar where they were
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losing their lives because of this.
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And while they were not necessarily traded in the same way as the Mediterranean monk
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seal, the stronger protections under CITES meant more resources for conservation
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and stricter rules for their habitat.
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This meant that they're still endangered, but they're getting a lot more focus
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and a lot more protection for now.
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I could share a story.
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When I was in Hawaii, a lot of the times when a monk seal would
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come up on the beach, somebody would be dispatched from NOAA.
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Usually a volunteer.
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There's a lot of volunteers in Hawaii, especially on the island of Oahu.
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They knew, like they would come in.
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They would cordon off the area with pylons.
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They would have some volunteers sit there and provide education for the animals.
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They actually know each and every animal it seems, and so they can tell like
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who's who, what their characteristics are, like, what their personalities,
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like, how long they tend to stay there, where do they end up going.
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And they really know a lot about the species, especially the
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individuals of that population.
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'cause there's not very many around, especially the island of Oahu.
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I think it was under a hundred, but don't quote me.
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So of course if it's under a hundred, they know these animals.
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They can recognize 'em through like scrapes and scars and so forth.
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And they can understand who they are, which is kind of cool.
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Now, the last animal that I looked up was the olive ridley sea turtle that's
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on CITES Appendix I. Now they're often impacted by international trade for their
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turtle shells as well as their eggs.
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So once CITES protection was put in place and other conservation measures came
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in, it helped curb the trade and allowed more local conservation efforts to take
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place like protecting nesting beaches.
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So over time, these combined efforts have really helped stabilize some of
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their populations, which is great.
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And in the case of Green Sea Turtles, not that they're on the CITES, but
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they're also like the conservation efforts have actually helped get them made from
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like going extinct or endangered to least vulnerable, which is really nice.
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So the fact that we have three examples, three great examples of species that have
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gone to almost the brink of extinction in some cases at some point, and CITES
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has come in and helped that population.
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Notice that it's not just CITES that helps this population,
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it's other conservation efforts.
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And it's the fact that because they're listed on these international agreements,
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it helps alleviate and get money for that species to do research on the
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species monitoring and conservation measures and protection and education
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for a lot of these species, like the Hawaiian Monk Seal and others.
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So that's a really great thing.
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And also it disperses money for conservation organizations to help
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protect nesting beaches for the Olive, Ridley sea turtle, as well as protect
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beaches when these animals come up on the beach and they wanna rest or
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haul out and just kind of relax and people can see them from a distance.
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They're not being idiots, like throwing sand on them and stuff,
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which I've seen before because there's somebody there to tell people to stop.
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And I think that's a really important aspect of this
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conservation is the education and the interaction with the community.
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Not only providing education, but protecting them from some
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community members who just don't have the right mindset when it
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comes to protecting animals.
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And so this is a really great set of stories that shows that having Appendix
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I can show some success stories.
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It all depends on how the money's dispersed, who is dispersed to, and
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how each country enforces CITES to make sure that these animals are protected.
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There is illegal rings that go on.
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However, those are harder to go by because it takes a lot of money,
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it takes a lot of sneaking around.
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You gotta do a lot to do that.
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And I'm sure it happens but for the most part, when it's not legal,
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then people tend to follow the law and just not trade these anymore.
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And hopefully we'll see the same thing happen when we look down the road at these
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other species that we'll start to see
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this species recovery.
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As monitoring is able to happen more and more from all around the world
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because more money is alleviated to study these animals and monitor and
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protect and educate people on these animals, that's gonna be a big thing.
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So the fact is that the new CITES protection in Appendix I makes it really
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easy to protect these species or easier to protect these species.
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Having the different levels of protection, bringing them in as Appendix II, people
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probably thought, Hey, it was a great celebration when people brought in
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the min, especially in 2016 when we got a lot of sharks, like the silky
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sharks and, I forget what the other, I think it was a hammerhead shark
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as well, like protected under CITES.
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It was a huge, huge thing.
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Other sharks got added, stingrays got added.
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Manta Rays and devil rays got added.
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That was a huge feat, but they weren't protected at the highest level.
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And that takes a lot of work to put it there.
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But it lays the groundwork under the Appendix II to get information,
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more information on that species to show really where they're at.
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A lot of the times these species aren't studied very well 'cause
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there's not a lot of money to give 'em.
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They're widespread around the world.
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It costs a lot of money to go out in the field to monitor these species.
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They'll monitor any real species in the ocean.
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So having the money available to do that allowed them to put it up to Appendix I.
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Now, this is not a good thing for the species in terms of where they're at
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right now, but it's a good thing to where they could be in the future if
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this CITES law is enforced and this agreement is enforced 'cause that's
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something that will have to happen.
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So the fact remains is that sharks need protection, and
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today we got those protection.
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So this is a huge conservation win for smooth hammerheads, thresher
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sharks, ocean white tip sharks, as well as devil rays and manta rays.
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This is a massive, massive win.
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Even the sea cucumbers and some of the reef fish that
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were also added to Appendix II.
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This is gonna help them with their protection and make
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sure that they're not hunted
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incessantly and make sure that they're not traded over borders.
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We may not be able to find out who's doing the hunting or when they do the hunting,
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but we'll make sure that we are not allowing the trade of these animals to go
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across these borders that follow CITES.
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Is it perfect?
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Absolutely not.
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Is it better than what we've had before?
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Yes, absolutely.
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And it's a huge win that we should be celebrating.
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But we should also celebrate the fact that you are now more aware of
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this positive commitment to protect sharks and manta rays and devil rays.
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And the fact is that you should still continue to learn about these species,
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continue to learn about where the problems arise, what countries the
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problems arise in, and why they should be enforced and start to pressure your
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political representative to make sure that these are enforced in your country.
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Whether you're from Canada, US, anywhere around the world.
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It's an important aspect to protect these types of protections, to
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make sure that they're enforced, make sure that they're done.
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And I'm so happy that we were able to talk about this on this episode
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today because the world has been going to crap, let's be honest.
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And it's nice to be able to celebrate some wins, especially
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when it comes to sharks and rays.
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This is something that has been on the docket for a long time.
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I'm so happy that we're able to see this protection, and it comes
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from a lot of people who are advocating for this protection.
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In 2016 to get them on Appendix II,
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it took a long of people to get together, start a movement.
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Shark Stanley was a huge movement.
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I've talked about on this podcast.
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It was a little cutout of a hammerhead shark that was started
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by one or two people, and it spread across the world to everybody.
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They all took pictures with Shark Stanley, like this cutout.
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They would get a cutout, they would cut it out.
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Classes, kids, adults of all ages, of all professional and cultural backgrounds
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around the world took pictures and those pictures were printed out and given to
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the people who were in charge of putting these sharks on CITES showing that there
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are a lot of people around the world that want to protect these sharks no
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matter where they're from, what they do,
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protection of sharks was really important.
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We got them on Appendix II and now we have 'em on Appendix I to provide
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not only that, we, they'll have more information on to provide more
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protection and hopefully we'll start to see an increase in their population.
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Nice and slow and steady.
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Quicker the better.
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But slow and steady always wins the race.
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And I'd love to see a recuperation of these.
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So I wanna thank you guys for joining me on today's episode.
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If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below
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if you're watching this on YouTube.
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If you are listening to this on your favorite podcast app, God,
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I'd love you for sticking with me 'cause that's how I started.
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I'm continuing going to be putting out these audio podcasts as well as on video.
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Same podcast, so you can listen to it wherever you want or
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watch it wherever you want.
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Let me know what you think.
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Just go to Instagram.
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DM me at How to Protect the Ocean.
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Also on my profile.
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There's a link to follow and you can follow me.
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You can also rate and review the podcast.
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I would love ratings and reviews because that really helps people.
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It kind of gives us social proof of why you'd like this podcast so
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much, why you listen to it each and every day or whenever you can.
16:55
So I really appreciate that.
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And of course, thank you so much for joining us on today's episode of the
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How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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I'm your host Andrew Lewin from the True Nord strong and free.
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Have a great day.
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We'll talk to you next time and happy conservation.