From field surveys to action – Indonesia

Since launching our collaboration with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in early 2025, we have been working to support the Indonesian government in filling knowledge gaps and identify solutions to the impacts of current seahorse trade on wild seahorse populations. Our work has moved from building capacity to conducting field surveys and gathering knowledge across Indonesia, and now towards identifying management solutions in collaboration with stakeholders.

Our work started with an introductory workshop and training in field survey techniques, followed by rigorous fieldwork. Our field team in Indonesia travelled across the country, conducting more than 300 interviews with fishers, traders, government officials, NGOs, divers, and others with knowledge of seahorses. They learned that seven of Indonesia’s 13 species are regularly obtained as bycatch in a diverse set of fisheries, that seahorses feature in a number of cultural beliefs and practices, that many are traded for traditional medicine, and that in some locations the trade had fueled targeted catch.

We subsequently co-hosted a workshop with the Indonesian Traditional Fisherfolk Union (KNTI), bringing together Indonesian fishers to validate the field team’s findings and discuss potential fisheries management options, centered around the perspectives of local fishing communities. Shortly after, we held a second workshop that brought together representatives from more than a dozen Indonesian government agencies as well as some Indonesian NGOs active in marine conservation. After learning the field team’s findings and fishers’ perspectives, participants worked together to identify feasible management options at national and local levels. The workshop also identified 5 pilot locations with different types of seahorse-fishery and trade interactions, where management approaches might be tested.

A third workshop, focused on equipping front-line government staff with tools and skills relevant to monitoring seahorse populations in the wild, as well as seahorse fisheries and trade, will conclude this week. A fourth workshop, focused on developing national conservation status assessments for Indonesian seahorse species using the IUCN Red List criteria, is planned for later this year.

Together, these efforts are building a stronger foundation for seahorses in Indonesia, safeguarding these species while protecting coastal livelihoods.

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We gratefully acknowledge funding from the UK Government through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund for making this work possible.