Many Syngnathids are listed as threatened on national and international criteria. Seahorses are listed in the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) Animals of the World Database and are included on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) 2000 Red List. Seahorses are included in the Cambodian list of endangered and protected species however this list is not 100% adopted yet.

The international trade in seahorses (Hippocampus spp) for traditional medicines, aquarium pets, and curios is a huge, valuable and seemingly unsustainable. The majority of landed seahorses are sold on to be used in traditional Asian medicine's. Traditional Chinese Medicine is recognized by the World Health Organization as a viable health care option, and has a global constituency. Seahorses are used to treat a range of conditions, including respiratory disorders such as asthma, impotence and other sexual dysfunctions, and general lethargy and pain. It is even shown as a tourist attraction in the lonely planet guide to Hong Kong!

Many different nations and territories around the world are involved in buying and selling seahorses, from Ecuador to Italy to Mozambique to the U.S.A. The largest known net importers are China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The largest known exporters are Thailand, Vietnam, India, and the Philippines. Most of Cambodia's illegal trade in Seahorses goes through the beach market in Kep and is directly transported to Vietnam the current price per kilo according to local sources is 500 us dollers per dried.

In Cambodia the combination of directly targeted catch and the huge incidental by-catch in weighted bottom trawling nets coupled with the destruction of large areas of seahorse Habitat has placed Cambodia's once plentiful Seahorses at serious risk. Conservation and management plans are urgently required. The new community conservation areas around Koh Rong Samleom and Koh Rong will play an important role in the conservation of Cambodia's vulnerable Seahorse populations. These new conservation areas will if well policed help to address the issues of habitat loss and also direct catch and by-catch by offering a haven for these dwindling populations.

Extensive habitat loss resulting from human activities such as coastal developments and destructive fishing techniques, dredging, infilling and removal of mangroves and seagrasses, has managed to fragment Seahorse populations and may have resulted in localized extinctions as some species once frequently encountered have not been seen for many months.

The commercial trade in Seahorses, from target fisheries and by-catch fisheries, is currently thought by many different organisations to be the major threat to Seahorse conservation worldwide.

Interesting Seahorse Links

Project Seahorse

Seahorse.org

ISeahorses

Kingdom of Seahorses