Our seahorse guide helps shape marine wildlife enforcement training in the Philippines

Protecting marine life starts with equipping aquatic wildlife enforcement officers with the right skills and tools. Our Philippines seahorse identification guide, developed by our Philippines Seahorse Programme: Saving Mr. Mom, is now helping shape identification guides for other marine species for the Aquatic Wildlife Enforcement Officers.

Last month, the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources brought together government agencies, conservation organizations, and other partners in Quezon City for a preparatory workshop to develop the National Aquatic Wildlife Enforcement Officer Training Program.

The workshop identified seahorses, sharks, marine mammals, Napoleon wrasse, and selected invertebrates as priority groups for the training. The group developing the identification materials and presentation outline, led by Dr. Mudjie Santos of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, agreed to use our seahorse guide as a reference for the teaching flow and structure of the materials covering these priority groups.

A shared template will help make species identification more consistent across the training materials – an important skill for officers during enforcement operations.

This initiative is an important step towards strengthening collaboration and ability to combat illegal fishing and illegal marine wildlife trade.