Seahorses
to be protected from international trade
May
12, 2004
Vancouver, Canada – A monogamous lifestyle
and male pregnancy aren’t the only things that distinguish
seahorses from other marine life. Starting May 15, international
trade rules kick in for seahorses — making them one
of the first commercially valuable marine species to be
managed by the world’s largest wildlife treaty, CITES
(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).
 |
A
number of the world’s species of seahorses
are threatened because of overfishing and unsustainable
trade. At the last CITES Conference of the Parties,
held in November 2002, WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network, backed a successful US-led
proposal to have all 33 seahorse species listed
on CITES Appendix II. This listing regulates international
trade in species that may be threatened with extinction
without trade regulation.
|
To help countries keep their seahorse trade
sustainable, Project Seahorse and TRAFFIC have produced
a guide for customs agents and others to help identify the
different species of seahorses in trade.
"At least 77 countries are involved in the seahorse
trade, so regulations on the international level are needed
to ensure their protection," said Dr Amanda Vincent,
director of Project Seahorse. "An estimated 24 million
seahorses are taken from the wild every year, dried and
sold for use in traditional Chinese medicine, to treat everything
from asthma to sexual dysfunction. Hundreds of thousands
more are sold live for the aquarium trade."
The CITES listing means more than 160 countries must now
ensure that commercial trade of seahorses is not detrimental
to wild populations.
"TRAFFIC and Project Seahorse have published an ID
manual to help ensure the seahorse regulations are successful
in conserving these remarkable species," said Ernie
Cooper of TRAFFIC. "We will be making copies available
to Customs agents and law enforcement officials in 165 countries
to help them enforce the new rules through proper identification
of the different species."
The biology of seahorses may make them particularly
vulnerable to overfishing. Because most species of seahorses
are monogamous, for example, widowed animals don’t
reproduce until they find a new partner, and lost partners
are not quickly replaced. Male pregnancy means that young
depend on parental survival for far longer than in most
fish. And small home ranges in many species may restrict
recolonization of depleted areas.
Seahorses are traded internationally for use in aquariums,
as curios and souvenirs, and in traditional Asian medicine.
Trade in recent years appears to be increasing, with demand
particularly high in China for use in traditional medicine.
Survival rates for seahorses in captivity are low, meaning
almost all seahorses in aquariums are wild-caught.
Aquariums and zoos celebrating Seahorse Day this week include
the Houston Zoo; the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago; and Monterey
Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California.
The CITES regulations for seahorses were approved in November
2002 but delayed for 18 months — until May 2004 —
to allow countries time to put in place policies to enforce
them.
Notes
• Project Seahorse is a marine conservation organization
that undertakes research, fosters marine management and
sustainable consumption, formulates policy and disseminates
knowledge.
• TRAFFIC is the world’s leading wildlife trade
monitoring network and is a joint project of WWF and IUCN-The
World Conservation Union.
For further information: Jan Vertefeuille, Senior Communications
Officer, WWF-US
Tel: +1 202 861 8362, E-mail: janv@wwfus.org
© WWF
This news sourced from the WWF site - www.panda.org
has been posted here solely to create public awareness.
