Operation by Inea and Federal Police rescues eleven butter rays threatened with extinction in A joint operation by the State Institute of the Environment (Inea) and the Federal Police rescued, on Tuesday (4), eleven butter rays, a species threatened with extinction, which were trapped in a fishing net installed irregularly on a rocky shore, in the region of Saquarema, in the Lakes Region of Rio. The action was carried out following complaints about the presence of the net, which it was approximately 20 meters long. During the inspection, agents found the animals still alive. As they were in good condition, all the stingrays were returned to the sea. ? Follow the g1 Região dos Lagos channel on WhatsApp. Although no one was on site at the time of the operation, the Federal Police managed to identify the person responsible for installing the network. He will be summoned to give a statement and has been charged with environmental crimes. Fines can reach R$40,000. The capture of butter rays is prohibited by law throughout the country. The species occurs along the entire Brazilian coast and suffers from population decline, mainly due to predatory fishing. Due to its low reproductive rate, population recovery in the wild is slow. According to environmental legislation, the installation of fishing nets on rocky shores is also prohibited. These places serve as shelter, feeding and reproduction areas for various marine species, such as fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The use of nets in these environments can capture young animals before the reproductive phase and impact the balance of the marine ecosystem. Butterfly ray rescued by Inea and Federal Police Reproduction g1