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Library Research > What you can do > How you can help

your actions - marine conservation Everyone can help ensure the long-term persistence of healthy seahorse populations by modifying consumption, providing information, supporting conservation initiatives and contributing directly to Project Seahorse. Below are a few simple ideas to help you get started: S eahorses are unusual, beautiful fish and for this reason people like to keep them as pets. Think before you decide to buy a seahorse. They are very difficult to keep alive and healthy because they eat only live food and are vulnerable to disease. E ven with all your efforts and care your seahorses may die. If they do, please resist the temptation to replace them. A void buying souvenirs and curiosities that are made from dead seahorses. H andicrafts with seahorse motifs make great gifts. They can also provide seahorse fishers and their families with an alternative source of income. O bserve but do not touch seahorses in the wild and do not take them out of the water. R ead about seahorses. Look for information about them in books and magazines, on the internet, and at museums and aquaria. S .pread the word. Share what you've learned about seahorses and seahorse conservation with others. E ncourage others to support seahorse conservation and marine conservation in general. Support projects that work to protect the seagrass, coral, mangrove and estuarine habitats where seahorses live. Your actions can help ensure that trade is sustainable: Avoid buying seahorses as curios or souvenirs. Do not buy seahorses for your home aquarium unless you have extensive experience with difficult marine fish species. Seahorses are among the most challenging marine species to keep because of their demanding live food requirements and their vulnerability to disease. If you do buy live seahorses, choose species that do best in captivity (such information is gradually emerging), ask suppliers about their sources and trade routes, insist on buying seahorses that have well-rounded trunks (many are concave because they have not been fed en route), avoid buying juveniles, and insist on comprehensive information about seahorse keeping. Also avoid buying males that have very distended brood pouches, since any that are nearly ready to give birth were probably caught when pregnant. If your captive seahorses do die, resist the temptation to replace them until you have learned more about their requirements. Seek to reduce your use of dried seahorses in traditional medicine. Particularly seek alternatives when choosing a tonic food. Consider whether your ailment needs to be treated with seahorses or whether another medicine might suffice. If you must buy dried seahorses, ask your dealer to purchase species that are least threatened (such information is gradually emerging). Refuse to buy pregnant males, since their young have died with them, reducing the prospects for population recovery. Avoid pre-packaged medicines containing seahorses as these often include juveniles that have been collected before they can reproduce. Recognize that small-scale low-technology aquaculture in seahorse fishing countries can help seahorse fishers become seahorse farmers, thus reducing pressure on wild populations while providing alternative livelihoods. Commercial-scale aquaculture by people not dependent on seahorse fishing, in contrast, commonly creates more conservation costs than benefits. Working for marine conservation in general will make an enormous difference to seahorse populations world-wide. In particular: Request and undertake education on marine conservation in schools, aquarium shops, traditional medicine outlets and other locations. Promote no-take marine protected areas and other marine reserves. Lobby for wise management of seagrasses, mangroves, coral reefs and estuaries; seahorse populations need healthy habitats in order to persist. Ask government representatives to act in the interests of marine ecosystems. Support organizations that care for the environment. Support sustainable use of marine resources by refusing to buy species from poorly managed fisheries, caught in destructive fisheries, or included on the IUCN Red List. Recognize that a great many seahorses and other marine species are caught accidentally in shrimp trawls and reduce shrimp consumption accordingly. Insist that fisheries managers adopt a precautionary approach to fisheries management, allowing for a margin of error. Support development initiatives that promote alternative means of income for poor fishers and their families in developing countries, as long as these are not environmentally damaging. Recognize that human population size and growth rates may be the primary cause of over-exploitation of marine resources and these factors must be understood and addressed as part of conservation initiatives.