Maryland moved closer to banning, at least temporarily, bowfishing contests for cownose rays after the house of delegates overwhelmingly passed legislation to halt events until July 1, 2019.

"[B]efore Fish Feel emerged, fish had no human voice representing any interest in their existence apart from an interest in consuming them, or in consuming whatever fish themselves might be eating."

Mary Finelli of Fish Feel, who chairs the Save the Rays Coalition, said advocates are confident a compromise can be reached, though she personally prefers the House version. "The Coalition fully supports the moratorium on these cruel and wasteful contests ... Read More

"Maryland still needs to fully ban these contests that are not only cruel and unnecessary, but also target a species that science shows is vulnerable to overfishing," said Mary Finelli, Chair of the Save the Rays Coalition.

Back in 2015, the ray killing contest was filmed after Maryland-based Fish Feel asked Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) to get involved. Stuart Chaifetz, an investigator for SHARK, told The Dodo, “The video we captured that year, and in ... Read More