Saving the seahorses

FOLLOWING the footsteps of cod, haddock, halibut, salmon and hosts of otherseafish are the seahorses which are thelatest victims of overfishing, Accordingto Amanda Vincent, an Oxford biologist, some 20 million scahorses wereconsumed last year. Its demand insoutheast Asia has overtaken the supplysharply. It is used as a traditional medicine for curing asthma, goitre, impotence and psoriasis.

Thailand, Vietnam and Philippinesare the biggest exporters of scahorsesin the world. However, their catchesduring the last 2 years have fallen by60 per cent. To keep up with the grow-ing demands, the young ones of thespecies are being caught, pushingthe seahorses more to the brink ofnon-existence.

According to Vincent, inshore fishing coupled with the offshore netting isthe main reason for the seahorses' wipeout. The poor fishermen who cannotafford expensive offshore fishing, fish inthe vicinity of land as fishes, seahorsesand other aquatic creatures swimtowards the shore to spawn. To remedythe situation, Vincent has set up amarine reserve in a village inPhilippines, where the villagers patrolregularly to prevent the poachers.Fishing is prohibited in the breedingseason. Protection and breeding of thiskind will soon increase the number ofseahorses, she hopes.