“I am more hopeful than ever that we are witnessing a turning point for the future of manta and devil rays.” That is the optimistic Christmas turn-of-the-year assessment concerning diver-favourite mobulids from Bex Carter, director of conservation programmes at the UK-based Manta Trust.
Summarising the significant developments of 2025, the trust recognises the highlight as being the ban on international commercial trade of all manta and devil ray species imposed at the CITES CoP20 conference in Uzbekistan in November.
“I am so proud of our fisheries & policy team, affiliates and collaborators for the incredible amount of work behind the scenes that helped to shape this decision,” says Carter.
“This includes our timely published Global Population Declines study, among the dozen new papers published and added to our Research Portal this year, as well as the decision to reclassify the three oceanic devil ray species as Critically Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List.”
In the summer of 2025 the Manta Trust team travelled to the Azores for a research and outreach expedition. Collaborating with local conservation organisations, including the affiliated Manta Catalog Azores, they surveyed a population of Critically Endangered sicklefin devil rays that aggregate each year at offshore seamounts.
The trust also mentored 23 Ocean Ambassadors from 11 countries, hosted thousands of students in online education sessions “and our World Manta Day campaign was seen 2 million times”, says Carter.
Positive action
In 2026 the Manta Trust plans to focus on ensuring that the CITES decision translates into positive action to help the world’s manta and devil ray populations recover from the threat of extinction.
These species depend on open ocean and migratory routes that span international waters, and the High Seas Treaty – the other key development of 2025 – comes into force in mid-January.
For the first time nations will be enabled to establish legally designated Marine Protected Areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction. These MPAs can include restrictions or prohibitions on fishing, helping habitats and migratory corridors for animals such as mobulids.
Fishing expansion with potential harm to vulnerable species will be subject to international standards of environmental impact assessment.
2026 will also mark two decades since Manta Trust CEO Guy Stevens co-founded its flagship project the Maldives Manta Conservation Programme. “It is so impressive to see everything the organisations have achieved so far,” says Carter. Find out more about the Manta Trust.
