List of threatened rays

In 2010 a global IUCN study of vertebrates found that of 1,044 cartilaginous (ray and shark) species examined, 345 or 33% were threatened with extinction.

To fill the growing demand in Asia for gill rakers, targeted fisheries have developed in other parts of the world, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, West Africa and Central and South America.

A fisheries study in Sri Lanka estimated that over a thousand of these were being sold in the country's fish markets each year.

[19] In 2011, manta rays became strictly protected in international waters thanks to their recent inclusion in the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals.

The CMS is an international treaty organization concerned with conserving migratory species and habitats on a global scale.

Although individual nations were already protecting manta rays, the fish often migrate through unregulated waters, putting them at increased risk from overfishing.

They are also exploited for the novelty value of their rostrum, their fins are eaten as a delicacy in China, and their liver oil used as a food supplement.

While arguing for a global ban on international commerce in 2007, a representative from the National Museums of Kenya stated, "Only the meat is consumed locally; and artisanal fishermen can retire after catching one sawfish due to the high value of a single rostrum, up to $1,450.

Precautionary science-based catch limits and strict prohibitions are now needed urgently if population collapse is to be avoided,[29][30] if the disruption of ecological functions is to be averted,[31] and if a start is to be made on rebuilding global fisheries.