Wildlife officials in Florida will continue to allow threatened giant manta rays to be taken from the ocean, but have tightened their policies after a viral video showed a captured ray in severe distress, and a bipartisan group of politicians called for an end to the controversial practice.

Members of the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) voted on Wednesday to adopt an amended final rule reserving the right to say when and where rays can be captured for “responsible exhibition” in the US.

The 18 politicians, including the Republican congressman Brian Mast, Democratic state senator Jason Pizzo, and Florida house and senate members from both parties, had pressed for an outright ban.

“By continuing to permit manta ray capture, the commission prioritizes the interests of the captive marine animal entertainment industry over the protection of a threatened species,” they wrote to the FWC chair, Rodney Barreto, and other panel members earlier this month.

Their outrage was provoked by a video posted to social media last summer by a tour boat captain in Panama City Beach, who watched five men roughly hauling an upside-down ray in a net on to an unmarked private boat.

The capture was authorized by a “special activity license” (SAL) issued by the FWC, and the ray destined for display at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi. It was one of three taken from Florida waters for the United Arab Emirates theme park in two years, one of which died soon after capture, and the latest of 25 licenses issued for manta rays since 2019, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Of those, 75% were intended for international aquariums, the newspaper said, after reviewing data provided by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF).

The commission discussed the concerns this week, but approved a rule anyway that will still allow manta rays to be taken, with the commission’s direct prior consent. Rays can no longer be captured and sent to aquariums overseas, and any US entity seeking to exhibit one must prove an educational reason.

Atlanta’s Georgia Aquarium, an attraction with a number of research and conservation programs, is currently the only facility in the country able to house and display the threatened species, which can reach a span of 26ft (eight meters) and a weight of 5,300lb (2,400kg).

The commission’s move was “a step forward in protecting Florida’s marine wildlife”, said Lindsay Cross, a Democratic state representative, letter signatory and sponsor of the Marine and Aquatic Native Threatened Animal (Manta) Protection Act in the Florida legislature.

Her bill, which died at committee stage in March, would have introduced an outright ban on the capture of threatened or endangered marine species from Florida waters and eliminated the need for an FWC rule.

“While myself and others were seeking a complete ban on the capture of species like the giant manta ray, the amended rule will ban the international export of any federally threatened or endangered species for the purposes of exhibition or education,” she said.

“Commission approval for any new SAL will improve transparency and allow for public comment and a more iterative process whereby the commission may designate additional parameters.”

Alicia Prygoski, the ALDF’s strategic legislative affairs manager, praised the commission for a “meaningful step”, but expressed concern that it also removed from the final rule a proposed cap of one manta ray every two years.

“Giant manta rays are threatened for a reason, and they deserve that highest level of protection, which would mean, of course, not pulling any of them from the water,” she said.

“But there is still some good that can be taken from this. The commission was strong on the outright prohibition on international export, which was somewhat of a response to stakeholder outreach and that very concerning viral video.

“The removal of the manta ray limit is the piece we still have concerns about. But in practice it doesn’t appear to create an immediate risk because there’s only one aquarium in the country equipped to house them.

“Overall we’re pretty happy to see the general outcome, and the FWC taking this seriously.”

Barreto, in a statement, said the panel was mindful of the concerns of the politicians and animal advocates, but weighed them against a need for education about vulnerable species.

“FWC is committed to the responsible conservation of endangered and threatened species,” he said.

“We recognize the role public aquariums play in building support for conservation. The actions we took will ensure the highest level of oversight for the collection of marine threatened species for responsible exhibition in the US.”

The new rule takes effect on 1 July.