GuyLian Supports Project Seahorse
Conservation of Marine Habitat Aided by Chocolate Seashell Sales
Famous Belgian chocolate company's seashell truffle profits help Project Seahorse protect vital coastal environment, support sustainable fisheries and monitor trade.
Degradation of coastal marine habitat and overfishing for the aquarium and Traditional Chinese Medicine trade has had a devastating effect on the seahorse (Hippocampus sp). Project Seahorse works to promote conservation and sustainable use of coastal marine ecosystems to protect the seahorse and other coastal marine animals. GuyLian, with its trademark seashell truffles, has been providing support for this work since 1998.
Seahorses
With their unusual biology and charismatic appeal, seahorses are popular in the aquarium trade and with the medical world. This has lead to one seahorse, the Knysna seahorse (Hippocampus capensis) becoming endangered and many others being listed as vulnerable.
Seahorses are monogamous over one or several breeding seasons. Because they have very small home ranges, finding new partners can be difficult. Male brooding gives the seahorse one of the longest periods of dependency of all fish, making the population vulnerable if there are high losses of males.
Trade in Seahorses
The commercial aquarium trade has long been a source of depletion of seahorse populations. They are also popular in the personal aquarium trade with seahorse curios, made from dried animals, adding to the problem. But by far the biggest consumption of seahorses comes from the world of Traditional Chinese Medicine where they are used to treat age related problems and as an aphrodisiac.
Overfishing and Coastal Habitat Degradation
Populations of many of the seahorses have declined by as much as 50% in the last five years, largely due to aquarium and Traditional Chinese Medical trade. Management of the seahorse fishery has improved since 2004 when the listing of all species as Appendix II under CITES came into force.
But habitat degradation and loss is also playing a part in the decline of the seahorse. Coastal marine pollution and growing human populations play a key role in this problem. In the Philippines, where Project Seahorse has a strong presence, the development of Marine Protected Areas is playing a key role in coastal environmental management to save seahorses and other marine animals.
Project Seahorse and GuyLian
Project Seahorse was established in 1996 by Dr Amanda Vincent and Dr Heather Koldewey. Their work on seahorse biology and genetics led them to realize how many seahorse species were being overfished. Those fishing practices were a threat to the entire coastal marine ecosystems where seahorses existed.
Working initially in the Philippines, Project Seahorse is attempting to determine the scale of the overfishing problem, to develop sustainable fisheries, find alternative means of income for local fishermen and improve marine conservation awareness. Since then Project Seahorse has worked in many other countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Portugal and the United States and collaborates with coastal marine biologists throughout the world.
Support from GuyLian began in 1999. The Belgian chocolate company had developed its trademark seashell and seahorse truffles to improve trade in the summer months by making a connection between the sea and chocolates. As the company prospered it looked for ways to support environmental work. The connection between the chocolate truffle seashells and seahorses made Project Seahorse a logical choice. GuyLian has been a sustaining sponsor of the project ever since.
And what better way for people to support the marine environment than by buying (and eating) GuyLian’s wonderful Belgian chocolate seashells?
