Partnerships & Collaborations

In seeking to regulate trade, as in all else, we join forces with wonderful partners and collaborators.

We are deeply grateful to the many thousands of fishers, traders, villagers, scholars, government officials and others who have contributed their knowledge and ideas to our trade studies over the past 28 years. People shared their information and experiences very generously, keen to talk about these quirky fishes and their importance, in hopes of achieving sustainable exploitation and trades.

For 22 years, Project Seahorse has been the lead advisor on seahorses and other syngnathid fishes to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). We have often served CITES and its member countries in our capacity as host of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group. We appreciate the many chances to provide input to and influence CITES action on listing, implementation, Review of Significant Trade, and illegal trade.

We are grateful for the opportunity to work with many CITES member countries and observer organizations as they promote marine fish listings and implementation. We have had sustained working relationships and formal partnership agreements with CITES Authorities in many countries around the world. Our long collaboration with the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Merchants Association has been of great value in illuminating trade issues and opportunities. We also very much appreciate our consultations with aquarium industry groups (especially Ornamental Fish International and the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association ) and a host of public aquariums. In particular, we very much appreciated a valuable long-term partnership with the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, USA.

Throughout our trade research, since 1994, we have been very grateful for the tremendous collegiate advice, support and partnership from colleagues in TRAFFIC, the outstanding wildlife trade monitoring agency. We also deeply appreciate our collaborations with the IUCN and the many experts in the IUCN Species Survival Commission taxon Specialist Groups. We have also had wonderful help from WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.