🌅 Seized Seahorses Worth Millions

SOURCE

Foster et al. (2025)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Researchers at the University of British Columbia analyzed global seizure records from 2010 to 2021, finding authorities in 62 countries confiscated nearly 5 million seahorses—worth an estimated $21 million—over the study period. Nearly all of the seizures were of dried seahorses, which are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, and the vast majority of seized products were located in or destined for countries in Asia.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The lead author of the study described the findings as “just the tip of the iceberg,” since the analysis was limited to a relatively small set of records based only on voluntary disclosures and online reporting (the final dataset included 300 seizures based on information from governments, news organizations, and non-profit groups). The team also found seahorses were often seized alongside other illegally traded products, like elephant ivory, pangolin scales, and the skins of various species.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• In February, Interpol and the World Customs Organization announced the results of Operation Thunder 2024, which recovered 20,000 live animals and identified 6 transnational trade networks in what the authorities described as the largest international wildlife and forestry operation ever undertaken (140 countries cooperated in the investigation). Authorities also seized “hundreds of thousands” of other protected animal parts and derivatives, trees, plants, and marine species.