Advancing marine conservation
By Lily Stanton and Do Huu Hoang (Part two of a three part series, a photo essay) After discovering that more than 2 million seahorses were landed annually as bycatch by the many trawl boats operating in Vietnamese waters in the late 1990s, we (Project Seahorse) returned to uncover what, if anything, has changed in …
My mind keeps dancing back to ten momentous days in September/October last year, when the world came together in Johannesburg, South Africa to figure out how best to look after trade in endangered species. So much got done and so much remains to be done. The conference in Johannesburg was really all about helping guide the 182 countries that are members of CITES to take active measures for conservation. Sarah Foster and I were part of the powerful IUCN delegation, providing the technical information that might influence countries’ decisions.… Read more
I am tired. So. Very. Tired. And as I sit here on the plane heading back to Canada from South Africa, a childhood rhyme is playing through my head… “Slowly, slowly, very slowly, creeps the garden snail…slowly, slowly, very slowly up the garden trail…”. Such was the pace of the 17th meeting of the CITES …
Story originally posted on UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Project Seahorse, a marine conservation research unit based at The University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, is applauding Thailand’s decision to end seahorse exports until it can trade in a sustainable manner, without damaging their wild populations. We spoke to …
Having laws to conserve nature and knowing how to use them are two different things – if done well, seahorse conservation in the Philippines could pave the way for other species, writes Dr. Amanda Vincent on World Wildlife Day. By Amanda Vincent, Chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Stickleback Specialist Group and Director of …
By Dr. Amanda Vincent It is truly wondrous that the world has managed to create a global action group for conservation, one that includes 1200 governments and non-governmental organizations. I am so involved in this club, called the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) that I seldom step back and really look at …
By Dr. Amanda Vincent Good. Two more seahorses species should get better help, thanks to the recent CITES technical meeting for animals. At this meeting, CITES expressed Urgent Concern about Guinea and Senegal’s exports of West African seahorses (Hippocampus algiricus – photo right) and Thailand’s exports of three spotted seahorses (Hippocampus trimaculatus). The upshot is that these countries have …
By Dr. Amanda Vincent Hippocampus kuda. One of the three seahorse species under CITES Review of Significant Trade. Photo by Luc Eeckhaut/Guylian Seahorses of the World. ere we go: CITES again. Every year or so, several hundred people sit down at a technical meeting to see whether international trade controls are doing any good for animals. …
By Dr. Amanda Vincent There it is. I have survived another week of UN negotiations on wildlife trade. And emerged content. I’ve been in Geneva to contribute to the technical working group on animals for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. It meets to execute the will of …
By Dr. Amanda Vincent So, how can we ensure that the commercial trade of marine life doesn’t damage wild populations? I am writing this while sitting in a discussion group with a bunch of other scientists, most of whom who have spent years working with CITES, a UN convention that controls exports of species that are …
