THE BAD NEWS & THE GOOD NEWS Thanks to your continued support of our campaign to ban the killing of rays in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne Australia, we are making progress! We now have over 27,600 signatures on this petition from all over the world. MASSIVE THANKS to each and every one of you - please keep sharing the link and raising awareness of this issue through social media. THE BAD NEWS: As these articles from IFLScience and The News Mornington Peninsula reveal, unfortunately sometimes things get worse before they get better: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/divers-reveal-shocking-images-of-mutilated-banjo-sharks-to-highlight-animal-cruelty/all/ http://mpnews.com.au/2017/05/15/rays-killed-despite-anti-cruelty-laws/ THE GOOD NEWS! Because of the 'clear community concern' expressed by this petition and the hard work of lots of individuals and groups who are being proactive on this issue, we are starting to make some great progress! In addition to weekly meetings of the core Project Banjo committee, we have now had excellent face-to-face meetings with the Executive Director and Director of Education and Compliance of government body Fisheries Victoria, as well as having met with the CEO of VR Fish (Victoria's peak recreational fishing body). These groups have recognised that this is an issue that needs to be resolved and processes are now commencing to work towards those resolutions. We also have a meeting scheduled for next week with Fisheries Victoria Director of Policy and Licensing where we will be discussing review of regulation, design of pier signage and other educational initiatives such as use of social media and the recreational fishing guide as parts of the solution to the current issues. We are appreciative to have received such proactive support from concerned individuals and key stakeholders within the recreational fishing industry alike. We are also grateful to see other states in Australia and beyond reflecting on their own practices and policies about the treatment of rays as a result of discussions facilitated by this campaign. We will keep you all posted as we continue to make progress. In the meantime, please keep sharing this petition and Watch This Space! And for more regular updates, press releases, media coverage and all things weheartrays, please feel free to follow our public Rays Awareness Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Rays-Awareness-168992960290905/ We also invite any ray advocacy groups throughout Australia and in other countries to make contact with us to develop mutually beneficial connections in the interests of better outcomes for rays worldwide. #raysawareness #projectbanjo #bayofrays #movingintherightdirection