We wanted to know the conservation status of seahorses, pipefishes and seadragons (syngnathids) at the national level and what, if any, national regulations exist to protect them? To this end, we spent weeks scouring literature, websites and government documents to determine which countries had assessed the conservation status of syngnathids at the national level.
Global assessments alone just aren’t enough
Discovering the hidden life of the Knysna seahorse
The Knysna seahorse is the most threatened seahorse in the world. It was the first seahorse to be listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2004. It is no surprise that this seahorse is so threatened, seeing that it is only found in 3 estuaries along the south coast of South Africa. Even though there have been various studies on the Knysna seahorse in the past, we don’t know much about its life history – how fast does it grow, how far does it move, how many are there?
From poaching to conservation - searching for seahorses in Mozambique
Talking syngnathids - (early) morning, noon and (late) night
New hope for seahorse conservation 18 years after CITES listing - Part 2
I’m on a plane again - this time heading home. I’m excited to get there - my cousin is getting married this weekend and so there’s lots to celebrate. But truthfully I’ve already been celebrating! Just as my cousins will soon embark on a new chapter in their lives, so have seahorses embarked on a new chapter in our efforts toward their conservation under The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
New hope for seahorse conservation 18 years after CITES listing
I still vividly remember finding out that all seahorses had been listed on CITES Appendix II. It was November 2002 and I was in Chicago, sitting in the lobby of the Shedd Aquarium (a long time Project Seahorse partner). My phone rang. It was Amanda Vincent, Project Seahorse director, calling me from Chile to tell me the proposal had received the 2/3 majority vote needed to be brought into force. I was early in my career and had not been involved with CITES for very long – but I knew this was something to get excited about.