{"id":271949,"date":"2026-05-15T07:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/271949\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T07:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:39:14","slug":"fwc-approves-new-restrictions-on-giant-manta-ray-captures-in-florida-after-viral-video-sparks-public-outcry-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/271949\/","title":{"rendered":"FWC approves new restrictions on giant manta ray captures in Florida after viral video sparks public outcry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved new rules Wednesday prohibiting the international export of giant manta rays to foreign facilities.<\/p>\n

The rule change follows intense public backlash over a viral video from last summer, showing a manta ray being captured off Panama City and exported overseas.<\/p>\n

Starting July 1, Florida captures will be restricted to just one ray every two years.<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)<\/a> approved new rules Wednesday prohibiting the international export of giant manta rays to foreign facilities.<\/p>\n

The capture of giant manta rays \u2014 a federally threatened species \u2014 will be limited to one every two years. And permits for these captures now require full approval from wildlife commissioners.<\/p>\n

The new rules go into effect July 1.<\/p>\n

Public debate<\/p>\n

The debate over giant manta rays \u2014often referred to by advocates as the “angels of the sea” \u2014 came to a head at Wednesday\u2019s FWC meeting. People on both sides of the issue spoke during the public comment period.<\/p>\n

\"<div>Courtesy:<\/p>\n

Courtesy: Marine Megafauna Foundation<\/p>\n

“Florida’s threatened marine wildlife should be conserved for the benefit of Florida’s residents, ecosystems and economy,” one person said. “Not removed from public waters to supply foreign entertainment markets.”<\/p>\n

Some wildlife advocates have called for a complete ban on the capture of giant manta rays.<\/p>\n

The other side<\/p>\n

Others disagreed.<\/p>\n

“Captive manta rays will significantly increase public awareness and scientific understanding of these animals. Long-term study for a better scientific understanding is only possible through captive care,” another public commenter said.<\/p>\n

The backstory<\/p>\n

The controversy was ignited last summer when staff with Water Planet Dolphin Swim Tours captured video of a group pulling a manta ray onto its boat off the coast of Panama City<\/a>. The group revealed they had a permit to export the animal. Reports later confirmed the capture was perfectly legal under the state’s previous permit system, and the manta ray was reportedly destined for a marine facility in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

\"<div>Courtesy:<\/p>\n

Courtesy: Water Planet Dolphin Swim Tours<\/p>\n

“I want to thank the internet for bringing the manta ray issue to our attention. I think it\u2019s an important one,” FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said during Wednesday\u2019s meeting.\u00a0“I do believe that we should not export the manta rays internationally [to] other countries. I believe that they should be here in America.”<\/p>\n

Dig deeper<\/p>\n

During the meeting, officials noted that the Georgia Aquarium is currently the only domestic facility likely capable of requesting a giant manta ray moving forward, as it is the only facility with the massive tank space and resources required to properly house them for their entire lifespan.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information for this story was gathered from interviews with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and public commenters at Wednesday\u2019s FWC meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved new rules Wednesday prohibiting the international export…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,8659,30,29,4747,116406,116408,116407],"class_list":["post-271949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-fish-and-wildlife","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fwc","tag-giant-manta-rays","tag-international-export","tag-manta-ray"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}