Maryland Bill to Protect Cownose Rays is Signed into Law
A Fishes Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM FishFeel.org
May 2019

Cownose Ray killing contests are now illegal, thanks to a unanimous vote by the Maryland Senate.

cownose ray killing contest

The bill to protect cownose rays has been signed into law! It was unanimously passed by the Maryland Senate, and Governor Hogan signed it on April 30th, 2019. The new law extends the moratorium on killing contests that target the rays until the state prepares a management plan for the rays – one that will hopefully ban these cruel and environmentally reckless contests for good.

In 2017, Governor Hogan signed a cownose ray bill into law. The law called on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to develop a management plan for the rays by the end of 2018, and put a moratorium on fishing contests for cownose rays until July 1, 2019. Unfortunately, the state didn’t meet the deadline, so new legislation needed to be introduced to extend the moratorium until a plan is in place.

Fish Feel and Save the Rays Coalition thank you for helping the rays!

From LCA Last Chance for Animals
May 2019

Prior to the 2017 moratorium, the Chesapeake Bay cownose ray killing contests were held every year in the summer, during which hunters brutally shot rays with a tethered bow, reeled them up to the water's surface, and then viciously beat them to death with bats and clubs.

In 2016, LCA joined forces with Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) to expose the ruthless cownose ray hunters.

WATCH: Vicious Cownose Ray Killing Contest Exposed.

In order to help put an end to the horrific and heartless slaughter of cownose rays, LCA also joined a coalition of nonprofit organizations dedicated to protecting the Chesapeake Bay rays.

The grassroots coalition, Save the Rays, has been diligently working for years to get legislation passed in Maryland that would end the senseless slaughter of the species and will continue working to ensure the DNR establishes a management plan that protects the cownose rays.

cownose ray

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