Nearly five million seized seahorses just ‘tip of the iceberg’ in global wildlife smuggling

Close to five million smuggled seahorses worth an estimated CAD$29 million were seized by authorities over a 10-year span, according to a new study that warns the scale of the trade is far larger than current data suggest.

Published today in Conservation Biology, the study analyzed online seizure records from 2010 to 2021 and found smuggling incidents in 62 countries, with dried seahorses, widely used in traditional medicine, most commonly intercepted at airports in passenger baggage or shipped in sea cargo.

“The nearly 300 seizures we analyzed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures including government notices and news stories. This means that what we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg,” said first author Dr. Sarah Foster, research associate at UBC’s Project Seahorse and focal point for trade in the International Union for Conservation of Nature global expert group on seahorses and their relatives.

Seahorses were often seized alongside other illegally traded products such as elephant ivory and pangolin scales, showing marine life is smuggled just like terrestrial wildlife in global networks.

The team also found emerging trade routes for dried seahorses involving Europe and Latin America, in addition to major destinations like China and Hong Kong. “Trade routes appear to be diversifying, and so must enforcement efforts,” said co-author Syd Ascione, a research biologist at Project Seahorse.

Legal trade of seahorses

International seahorse trade is allowed with permits certifying it does not harm wild populations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an agreement among 184 countries, including Canada and the European Union. But barriers like proving the trade is sustainable make permits difficult to obtain, moving the trade underground.

The researchers also noted that data about seizures is scarce, particularly for marine life, and enforcement efforts often focus on larger, more charismatic animals like elephants or tigers.

“All countries must step up with strong deterrents — good detective work, determined enforcement, and meaningful penalties — to shut down the illegal seahorse trade,” said senior author Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, director of research at OceansAsia. “At the same time, we must continue using innovative research and investigation methods to uncover hidden networks and outpace traffickers.”

Stepping up enforcement

The study found that most seizures of seahorses occurred in transit or destination countries, highlighting the potential efficacy of enforcement efforts at those points.

Airports were the most common places where seahorses were seized, with passenger baggage accounting for the highest number of cases. However, the largest seizures by volume were found in sea cargo, highlighting the need for countries to keep a close eye on illegal wildlife moving by sea.

Customs and other enforcement agencies made the vast majority of reported seizures, but only seven per cent of these had information on legal penalties, leaving it unclear as to how often seizures lead to punishment.

Values for seized seahorses were provided in 34 records. Using these, the researchers estimated the average value per seahorse was about CAD$7, for a total of CAD$29 million over 10 years.

Seahorses are used in traditional medicine and can be a valuable income source for fishers, so efforts to reduce illegal trade need both a carrot and a stick, said Dr. Foster. “We need to make sustainable, legal trade viable enough that people obey the laws, and ensure that we also have sufficient deterrents to stop illegal activity.”

Seahorses are a symbol of ocean biodiversity and protecting them helps everyone involved, she added. “We’ve done work with traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong, and when we ask them, ‘How long do you want seahorses around?’, they say ‘Forever, they’re really important!’ And we agree.”