Close to five million smuggled seahorses, worth an estimated €18.5 million, were seized over the past decade. It is a staggering number that researchers say still underrepresents the true scale of the illegal trade.
A new study published in Conservation Biology examined global wildlife seizure data from 2010 to 2021 and discovered that seahorses – either dead and dried or alive – were most often found hidden in luggage or shipped by sea cargo across 62 countries. The majority were bound for traditional medicine markets in Asia.
But those aren’t the only markets anymore. The researchers discovered that Europe and Latin America are increasingly showing up in trafficking routes, too.
“The nearly 300 seizures we analysed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures including government notices and news stories,” says Dr Sarah Foster, a research associate at the University of British Columbia’s Project Seahorse and the study’s lead author.
“What we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Why seahorses?
Seahorses have long been prized in traditional medicine, especially in China and Hong Kong, where they’re dried, ground into powder and used in treatments for ailments ranging from asthma to impotence. They’re also traded as dried souvenirs or live animals for aquariums.
Demand for them has proven difficult to regulate.
International trade in seahorses is legal under the CITES treaty – an agreement recognised by 184 countries, including the whole of the EU. But it is only allowed if permits prove that exporting them won’t harm wild populations.
In practice, those permits are hard to secure. That’s pushed the trade underground, where traffickers exploit weak enforcement and shifting trade routes, according to the researchers.
“The trade routes appear to be diversifying, and so must enforcement efforts,” says Syd Ascione, a research biologist at Project Seahorse.
A symbol of ocean biodiversity under threat
Seahorses are often seized alongside other trafficked items like pangolin scales and elephant ivory. It shows how deeply marine species are entangled in the global wildlife crime economy – a trade worth up to €20 billion annually, according to Interpol.
In February, a global wildlife traffickingcrackdown saw 20,000 live animals seized, from tiger cubs to songbirds. In Europe, smugglers have previously been caught transporting reptiles under their clothes. And in April, two Belgian teenagers found trafficking 5,000 ants were fined €6,775 or given the option of serving 12 months in prison by a court in Kenya for violating wildlife conservation laws.
A 2024 UN report found that more than4,000 species are affected by wildlife trafficking, driving some rare species to extinction.
Still, marine species tend to receive less attention – and less protection – than their more charismatic land-dwelling counterparts, according to the UN. But their quiet disappearance affects everything from coral habitats to the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on the sea for food or commerce.
How are marine species being trafficked – and what is being done to stop it?
Controlling the trade has also proven difficult. They can be a valuable income source for fishers, Foster says, and there are gaps in enforcement.
The study found recorded values for seized seahorses in only 34 cases, but was able to estimate an average price of about €4.50 per animal – a low number but one that adds up quickly when trafficked in bulk.
While airports are common seizure points for trafficked seahorses, the largest volumes are found in sea cargo, a frequently overlooked transport method.
Of the 300 cases the group examined, only seven per cent included information about legal penalties. That raises questions about how often traffickers are prosecuted and whether current penalties are enough to slow their trade.
“All countries must step up with strong deterrents – good detective work, determined enforcement and meaningful penalties,” says Dr Teale Phelps Bondaroff of OceansAsia, the study’s senior author.
At the same time, Foster adds, there’s a need to support sustainable alternatives. Those efforts start with bringing the legal seahorse trade into the light to protect their populations, perhaps providing a blueprint for better marine conservation everywhere.
“When we ask [traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong], ‘How long do you want seahorses around?’, they say ‘Forever, they’re really important!’” she says. “And we agree.”