Advancing marine conservation
Global seahorse populations (Hippocampus spp.) are under pressure from habitat degradation, accidental capture (bycatch), and direct exploitation. Seahorses are primarily traded for use in traditional Chinese medicine and its derivatives, but they are also sold as dried curiosities and live for ornamental display in aquariums. In 2002, all seahorse species were included on Appendix II …
This chapter focuses on the various ecological issues that are related to the trade of live reef fishes. Well-managed live reef fish fisheries offer an excellent chance for high-value and relatively low-volume trades that could employ many fishers without damaging wild populations, with the income providing strong local incentives to care for marine resources. Similarly, …
FOLLOWING the second Opium War, which ended in 1860, Britain and other colonial powers demanded that China legalise the opium trade. The Chinese refused. In retaliation British troops ransacked the Summer Palace in Beijing. Some of China’s greatest artistic treasures were destroyed. Echoes of this historic clash reverberate in contemporary confrontations between conservationists and the …
Pegasid fishes (sea moths) have only entered the arsenal of traditional Chinese medicine within the past few decades, but are now used in southern China and Hong Kong to treat respiratory ailments and cancers. Brief trade surveys suggest that millions of individuals of two pegasid species are used each year, and that they cost relatively …
Vincent, A.C.J. (1996). The International Trade in Seahorses. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK. vii-163 pp. ISBN 1858500982… Read more
Any perception of seahorses and pipefishes as cute but rather irrelevant fishes is about to change. These fishes are now the targets of a large international trade, the scale of which is probably unsustainable. They are also victims of wholesale destruction of their offshore habitats. Seahorses and pipefishes (syngnathids) are sold primarily for use as …