TCM Gold Rush in Sri Lanka
A major argument used by TCM spin-doctors is that their medicine is Traditional, going back hundreds of years, if not millennia. But the trade in manta gill-raker plates is NOT traditional. There is nothing in ancient or modern Chinese medicine texts about manta gill-raker plates. This trade goes back just a few decades. Probably cooked up by some fishermen and TCM Mafia to turn a profit where no profit previously existed. Touted to be good for the circulation, and for “women's problems” such as breast-feeding. The TCM spin-doctor logic is that since mantas filter huge amounts of sea-water in search of tiny plankton, these filter devices (gill-raker plates) must have extraordinary powers.
Prior to 2010, manta and devil rays caught in nets by fishermen off the coast of Sri Lanka were released back into the sea, because they are of no commercial value. They have no value for restaurants or other trade. However, that all changed when Chinese TCM Mafia showed up, offering high prices for the gill-raker plates of these species. This TCM interest sparked a gold-rush for mantas and mobulas. The only part of the rays sought is the gill-raker plates. The rest is practically discarded. By 2020, the annual capture of manta and devil rays fished in the waters of Sri Lanka was more than in the rest of the world combined.