Conservation
Seahorses and their relatives the sygnathids, found across the globe, face an ever-increasing number of threats to their survival. From harvest for Traditional Chinese Medicine and souvenirs, to habitat loss and global warming, Sygnathid populations in the wild are at risk.
Dried seahorses, pipefish and sea mothes headed for the TCM market.
20 millions seahorses a year are thought to be harvested for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Pipefish are becoming increasingly more popular in TCM as seahorse numbers dwindle. Habitat loss and destruction is also a huge problem for seahorses, as many of their homes are in costal waters or seagrass beds near shore, easily destroyed by development and pollution run-off. And global warming is changing many of the habitats these unique fish depend on. Poaching is a threat to the rare Sea Dragons, with individual Leafy Seadragons fetching up to $4000(USD) each. Poaching may become an increasing threat as seahorses populations dwindle from unprotected waters.
What you can do about it
Everyone can get involved in helping protect these wonderful animals. Don’t buy dried seahorses as souvenirs or decorative products that contain seahorses. Encourage legislators to pass laws that protect coastal waters from development and pollution run-off. Donate to conservation groups such as the Nature Conservancy and Project Seahorse. Only buy seafoods that are caught through safe methods that don’t result in incidental by-catch of seahorses – See the Monterey Bay seafood watch list for shrimp, a primary problem with seahorse and pipefish by-catch. If you keep seahorses as pet, only purchase captive bred seahorses, and avoid tank-raised, where the young are harvested from the wild.
More Conservation Groups
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: 11/12/2011
The the second Syngnathid Symposium was held the first week in November in Chicago at the Shedd aquarium. 92 delegates from all over the world gathered to discuss current issues with seahorses, sea dragons, pipefish and other syngnathids. Topics discussed were husbandry, challenges in breeding, keeping and obtaining these unique animals as well as conservation [...]
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: 09/10/2010
I just started a new petition, after finding out that BP’s oil clean-up methods targets dwarf seahorses primary habitat in the Gulf, seagrass beds and seagrass mats. BP burns the mats, and the seahorses along with them. If you find this as horrible as I do, please, sign the petition. The dwarf seahorse, a small [...]
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By Mick Burrows
| Date posted: 05/05/2010
Living amongst the many and varied creatures in the temperate coastal waters of southern Australia; are in essence, the a relatively little known, but immensely fascinating sea dragons. These marine fish of the Syngnathidae family, are closely related to sea horses and pipefish, and as such, need to eat constantly, owing to the fact that [...]
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By Tami Weiss
| Date posted: 05/21/2009
Seahorses are some of the most enchanting and mysterious creatures in the ocean. They are also in trouble, struggling to survive in threatened habitats around the world, while large-scale trading of seahorses for the traditional Chinese medicine market goes unchecked. Meet the Seahorse Sleuths – local scientists who are working to unlock the secrets of [...]
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By Choo Chee Kuang
| Date posted: 04/25/2008
Sungai Pulai is a very special estuarine ecosystem that should merit the status of a
national heritage. The intertidal seagrass bed at the Pulai river mouth is the largest known contiguous meadow in the whole country – home to seahorse, dugong and other rare species, and also a fisheries powerhouse. It is something we, as Malaysian, cannot afford to lose.
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By Carlos Restrepo
| Date posted: 01/01/2004
Seahorses are threatened throughout their range as a result of habitat loss and over-fishing. They are exploited for traditional Asian medicine markets, the pet trade, and for food.