TED Case Studies

Seahorse Trade

                                         

 



  

          CASE NUMBER:        241
          CASE MNEMONIC:      SEAHORSE
          CASE NAME:          Seahorse Trade

A.        IDENTIFICATION

1.        The Issue

The seahorse is one of the most unique and mysterious animals on
the planet.  To the best of our knowledge it is the only animal
that has the male as the specialized caretaker of the young.  Aside
from the unusual parenting habits of the seahorse not much is known
about it's life.  What is known is that roughly 20 million live and
dead seahorses were traded legally internationally last year. 
Countless more were smuggled across the Taiwan Strait.  Great
Britain has just recently taken the lead in evaluating if the
seahorse, in its natural environment, can withstand trade at this
level.

2.   Description

A recent study conducted by Amanda Vincent of Oxford University has
brought the case of the seahorse to international attention.  She
began studying seahorses in 1986.  

Amanda discovered the unique mating and reproduction process of the
seahorse, and the difficulty of trying to raise a colony on her
own.  She also uncovered a huge legal trade of seahorses, dead and
alive, which totaled roughly 20 million in 1993 alone.

Primarily the seahorses are used for medicines and aphrodisiacs in
Asia.  However, they are also coveted for aquariums, curios, and
food all around the world, including here in the United States. 
Even more devastating to the wild seahorse population is the
illegal trade that goes on across the Taiwan Strait every year. 
Seahorses are shipped in such large numbers that it is even
impossible to make an educated estimate of the quantity.

The seahorses are found in most coastal areas which have sea grass
beds, mangroves, or coral reefs.  Worldwide there are estimated to
be around 35 species.  Among the more populated areas for seahorses
are southern Australia and Tasmania, China, and the Philippines.
The Philippines, perhaps, have the most invested in the seahorse
trade, along with China.  Amanda Vincent found the following news
flash across an electronic bulletin board in 1990; "seahorses are
the most valuable fisheries export of the Philippines."  While in
China it is estimated that roughly 20 tons of seahorses, or about
6 million animals, were consumed in 1992.

Amanda Vincent sees a definite threat to the survival of seahorses
if trade continues at the current levels.  In her travels she
reports of stories of diminishing takes and smaller sized
seahorses.  The seahorses are also battling the gradual loss of
their habitat.  Blasting of coral reefs by aquarium-species
collectors and exporters are destroying the mangroves and sea grass
meadows.

The loss of the seahorse from his natural habitat could also
disrupt the delicately balanced ecosystem.  The main meal for the
seahorse is shrimp, which they after gather as the swing by their
tails from blades of seagrass.  Despite their ability to change
their color to match their surroundings, seahorses are often meals
for penguins and crabs.  Their bony exterior, however, discourages
most fish.  The other natural enemy of the seahorse is the weather. 
Often a storm may cast seahorses adrift and they die of exhaustion.

There has been, in the past two to three years, the initiation of
studies into the seahorse trade.  At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992
a key convention was proposed and finally ratified in Great Britain
in 1994.  The Bidiversity Convention lays out the framework for
international action to protect species, habitats and ecosystems. 
As a part of this convention a study of the possible commercial
breeding of seahorses for Chinese medicine is to be funded by the
Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species.  The goal of this
study is to determine if the natural seahorse population can
withstand exploitation.

On the other side of the world there is an official trade ban on
any produce from China to Taiwan.  Unfortunately the illegal trade
across the Taiwan Strait is flourishing and seahorses are a common
commodity.  Not only do individual fishing boats carry illegal
cargo to the island nation but the local businessmen consistently
do business through there party nations, such as Hong Kong.  China
is the largest consumers of seahorses, mainly for the medicine
trade.  Seahorses have been used in China for centuries as an
ingredient for medicines, aphrodisiacs, and as a delicacy for
dinner.  The Chinese believe that seahorses can help sure
everything from asthma to impotence.

In Australia and the surrounding nations seahorses are used for
tourist merchandise, such as key chains and souvenirs.  In the
United States both live and dried seahorses are imported, mainly
from the Philippines, for aquariums and for use in China towns.

3.   Related Cases

     FROGS case
    CORAL case
     TOBAGO case
     PHILWOOD case
     MANGROVE case
     THAISHMP case



Rene Pare in the Netherlands maintains a  Seahorse Web Site

     Keyword Clusters

    (1): Trade Product            =    SEAHORSE
    (2): Bio-geography            =    OCEAN
    (3): Environmental Problem    =    Species Loss Sea [SPLS]

5.   Draft Author:  Elizabeth W. Doering

B.   LEGAL CLUSTER

6.   Discourse and Status:  DISagree and ALLEGE

7.   Forum and Scope: UK and MANY

8.   Decision Breath: 20

9.   Legal Standing: TREATY

     There is currently legal trade of seahorses and the only
organization actively studying the seahorses is the Darwin Survival
of Species program on the Biodiversity Convention.  Most of the
nations who were represented at the Rio Earth Summit agreed that
there should be studies conducted on the seahorse population but 
there is not as much agreement as to what, if any, limitation
should be put on the animal.  Naturally, the nations who benefit
from a booming seahorse trade have interests in keeping the trade
unrestricted.  These nations would probably include China, the
Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, Tasmania, and Singapore.

D.   GEOGRAPHIC FILTERS

10.  Geography

     a. Geographic Domain:  Global
     b. Geographic Site: Global.
     c. Geographic Impact: Global.

11.  Sub-National Factors: NO

Taiwan has an official ban of any product from a communist nation
but is unable to control the illegal trade into the island. 
Seahorses are traded legally everywhere else in the world.

12.  Type of Habitat: OCEAN

D.   TRADE FILTERS

13.  Type of Measure: Import Ban [IMBAN]

14.  Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: DIRect

15.  Relation of Measure to Impact
     a. Directly Related to Product:  Yes, Seahorses
     b. Indirectly Related to Product:  No
     c. Not Related to Product: no.
     d. Related to Process: Species Loss Sea [SPLS]

16.  Trade Product Identification: SEAHORse

17.  Economic Data

-    20 Million seahorses traded legally per hear, worldwide.
-    20 tons, or 6 million seahorses consumed in China in 1992.
-    200,000 seahorses imported into the United States for
     aquariums from the Philippines in 1987.
-    5.66 million UK Pounds provided by Rio Summit Convention
     for the research and conservation of threatened species.
-    In Hong Kong chemist's shops one dried kilogram of
     seahorse brings $1,200.

18.  Degree of Competitive Impact: HIGH

19.  Industry Sector: FOOD

20.  Exporter and Importer: PHILippines and CHINA

Exporters of seahorse include: Australia, China, Tasmania,
Philippines, Belize, Brazil, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico,
Pakistan, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emeritus,
United States, Vietnam.  Thailand is actually the world's largest
exporter.  Importers include: China, United States, Taiwan, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, S. Korea.

E.   ENVIRONMENT CLUSTERS

21.  Environment Problem Type:  Species Loss Sea [SPLS]

The studies just initiated are to try to determine if the natural
seahorse population can withstand the estimated 20 million per year
at current trade levels.(1)  It is feared that the seahorse
population is not able to sustain this level and the animals may
eventually become extinct.

22.  Species Information

     SPECIES: Seahorse
     GENERA:  Hippocampus
     DIVERSITY: NA

Seahorses comprise 35 known species.  There have currently been 35
different species identified during the seahorse studies.  However,
since little is known about these unique animals it is certainly
possible that there are species that have yet to be discovered.

23.  Impact and Effect:  HIGH and PRODuct

The seahorse trade produces a negative product effect since it
concerns the survival of the product being traded.  If the supply,
and thus the trade, of seahorses were to decline significantly then
it would effect both consuming and producing nations, especialy
nations such as the Philippines who depend heavily on their
seahorse trade.

24.  Urgency and Lifetime: HIGH and 1 year

25.  Substitutes: LIKE

It is probable that if the seahorse trade were to decline many
nations could substitute another similar fish for tourist or
aquarium uses.  The most difficult use to substitute for would be
the medicinal uses in China.  Because Chinese medicine practices go
back 400 years or more they would probably not take too easily to
the idea of substitutes.

26.  Culture: NO

However, seahorse is an ingredient in potions intended to cure
astma, arteriosclerosis, broken bones, goiter, impotence, phlegm,
psoriasis, and general health.

27.  Trans-Boundry Issues:  NO

28.  Relevant Literature

Paul Brown, "Grant for Seahorse Study," The Guardian, 29 March,
1994.

Economist, "Don't Eat the Seahorses," 30 September, 1995, 98.

Jane McCartney, "Illicit Taiwan-China Trade Booming," United Press
International, 21 July, 1985.

"Trade Best for Protecting Environment, Says Major," The Press
Association Limited, 3 June, 1994.

                           References

1.   Economist, "Don't Eat the Seahorses," September 30, 1995, 98.