Dried Seahorses Seized�All Eight Million

SATURDAY NIGHT CRIME: 8 MILLION SEAHORSES SEIZED

On 7 June 2016, Peruvian officials seized more than eight million seahorses that were smuggled onto a Chinese-flagged ship and bound for Asia. The seized seahorses were worth close to $4 million on the black market, making it the largest seizure in Peru�s history. Previously in 2012, Peruvian police seized 16,000 dried seahorses on a street near an airport in Lima, the nation�s capital.

In response to an increase in demand for seahorses and the resulting overfishing over the years, Peru banned the catching of seahorses in 2004. The demand for these intriguing creatures comes from Asian countries, mostly China, as they are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine preparations thought to cure liver and kidney problems, amongst others.

The burgeoning seahorse trade has, over the years, resulted in the number of wild seahorses declining by 80 per cent since the 1990s. Given their small population sizes, preference for specific habitat types and low mobility, seahorses are slow to recover from such overexploitation. Up to eleven seahorse species are considered vulnerable or endangered and all are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the body that regulates commercial wildlife trade.

Since 15 May 2004, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Singapore has been regulating the import and export of seahorses through the issuance of CITES permits and approval of trade declarations. Seafood traders, Traditional Chinese Medicine dealers and all aquarium seahorse dealers trading in live and dried seahorses are required to obtain CITES permits from the AVA when they import, export or re-export seahorses.

The public also has a role to play in preventing further devastation of wild seahorse populations, by abstaining from buying live seahorses or products made from them.

Read more here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/seahorses–eight-million-peru-smuggling-crime-blotter/

#ACRES # #AVA #CITES #Seahorse #Wildlife #IllegalWildlifeTrade #WildlifeTrade



In this week�s crime blotter: fish illegally bound for Asia, a massive elephant skull, and 22 tortoises in a bag.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/seahorses–eight-..

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ACRES

ACRES (Animal Concerns Research & Education Society) is a pioneering Singapore-based charity and Institution of Public Character, founded by Singaporeans in 2001 with the aim of promoting animal welfare.

ACRES has six focus areas: Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, Wildlife Crime Investigation, Zoo Animal Welfare, Humane Education, Community Outreach and Promoting Cruelty-Free Living.

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