| Office of the Secretary | Contact: Hugh Vickery, in Santiago |
| For Immediate Release: November 13, 2002 | 011-56-9-605-7360 or |
011-56-9-685-5222 (News Media Only) |
United States Leads Efforts to Conserve
Seahorses and Patagonian Toothfish at CITES
(SANTIAGO, CHILE) -- A U.S. proposal to protect seahorses from overharvest through strict regulation of international trade was passed today by more than 150 nations attending the 12th Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
As a result of the vote, seahorses will be listed in Appendix II of the convention, which means that any international shipment must be accompanied by an export permit affirming that it was legally harvested in a way that is not detrimental to the survival of the species.
"Conservation of seahorses, which depend on coral reefs, goes hand-in-hand with international efforts to conserve the reefs themselves, which are among the world's most endangered ecosystems," said Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson, the head of the U.S. delegation, who also co-chairs the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.
Meanwhile, the U.S. delegation facilitated an agreement between Australia and Chile regarding conservation of the Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass. The resolution will improve monitoring of harvests and international trade in the species. As a result of the resolution, Australia withdrew a proposal to list the species in Appendix II.
"The United States took the lead in bringing together countries to solve difficult international marine fishery issues," said Assistant Secretary of State John Turner. "These measures will vastly improve the conservation of seahorses and toothfish by providing monitoring and regulation of trade."
Sea horses live in tropical and sub-tropical ocean waters, typically among sea grasses, kelp beds, algal and rocky reefs, mangroves and coral reefs. Their numbers have declined dramatically in recent years because of commercial trade. In particular, seahorses are harvested for use in traditional Chinese medicine and its derivatives as well as for aquarium pets, souvenirs and curios.
At least 20 million seahorses were captured annually from the wild in the early 1990s and the trade is estimated to be growing by 8 to 10 percent per year.
The Patagonian toothfish grows up to six feet long and lives for up to 50 years. It lives at depths as low as 9,000 feet in the Antarctic seas. About 20 years ago, the toothfish became a popular seafood in Europe, Japan and the United States and began to appear on the menus of many upscale restaurants.
Because of the high market value of toothfish and the difficulty in detecting and halting illegal fishing in remote Antarctic waters, illegal harvest is lucrative and relatively low-risk.
Meanwhile the United States succeeded in getting proposals it sponsored or co-sponsored passed to list a variety of highly-traded Asian turtle species in Appendix II. These include the yellow-headed temple turtle, roofed turtle, yellow pond turtle, big-headed turtle, keeled box turtle, black marsh turtle, and narrow-headed softshell turtle. These species are threatened by loss of habitat and a growing commercial trade as both food and pets.
Proposals to list the whale shark, the largest fish in the world, the humphead wrasse (a coral reef fish) and the basking shark, narrowly failed to garner the two thirds majority needed to be listed in Appendix II.
-DOI-