Africa-Press – Mauritius. The carcass of a marine animal washed up on the public beach in Palmar last week. If everything suggested that it was a dolphin, after research, the Mauritius Marine Conservation Society found an illegal practice: amputation of skate fins.
Thursday September 2. A reader of the express contacted us to inform us that he discovered a marine animal carcass on Palmar beach the day before while jogging.
“It was around 2 p. m. There was a crowd around the decaying animal. I took the opportunity to take pictures.
” Following this we contacted the Ministry of Fisheries as well as the Mauritius Marine Conservation Society (MMCS). If at first glance the animal appeared to be a dolphin, things took a different turn over the weekend.
The MMCS was having trouble identifying the species as it was missing pieces of its body, which appeared to have been torn off. The size and length of the animal already suggested that it could not be a dolphin.
Through the images and with the help of Mark McGrouther, senior ichthyology researcher at the Australian Museum, Owen Griffiths of the MMCS discovered that it was in fact a stingray, an Eagle Ray Aetobatus, more precisely, whose fins were cut post-mortem.
Which, according to this scientist, is a terrible destruction of our marine biodiversity. “It is certain that this ray was caught, its fins were cut off and the rest was thrown back into the sea. Ray fins, like shark fins, are sold for soup.
Anyone who consumes fin soup today is committing a crime against planet Earth! Sharks and rays, as top predators, are essential to a healthy ocean ecosystem, and healthy oceans are vital carbon sinks.
” Who could have done this? Owen Griffiths leans on the thesis that he is a knowledgeable fisherman.
On the side of the Ministry of Fisheries, which recovered the body of the animal buried by fishermen on Thursday for a necropsy, it is said that analyzes are still underway to identify the species at the Albion Fisheries Research.
Center (AFRC). According to a ministry official, AFRC scientists said until last week that it was a young dolphin but that the analyzes were not yet complete.
So far, the ministry does not wish to comment on the species found because, according to the officer, the AFRC’s final report has not yet been issued.
However, our interlocutor affirmed that if, indeed, it is a stingray and the circumstances of its death turn out to be the amputation of its fins, it is considered an illegal practice.
In fact, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has just released a new status report on sharks and rays, which it notes massive declines everywhere. On Saturday, September 4, the IUCN published its new red list, which features stingrays.
As reported by the online newspaper The Indian Express, the IUCN explained that: “Some 37% of sharks and rays in the world are considered endangered in 2021, up from 33% seven years ago” and that they are increasingly threatened with extinction.
