1 Exploitation, trade, conservation and management of seahorses in the Philippines FINAL REPORT in support of eventual CITES implementation for seahorses in the Philippines 1 1,2 Compiled by Sarah Foster and Charity Mae Apale (1Project Seahorse and 2ZSL-PH) Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 3 CONSUMPTION, FISHERIES AND TRADE ......................................................................................... 3 DATA SOURCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 USES ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Global overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Philippines ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 SPECIES ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 FISHERIES ................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Global overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Philippines ............................................................................................................................................................... 8 Target fisheries .................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Bycatch ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Fisheries legislation ...................................................................................................................................................................... 11 TRADE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Global overview .................................................................................................................................................. 12 Philippines ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 Dried trade ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Live trade ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Economic importance of the trade ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Trade legislation ............................................................................................................................................................................. 16 EFFECTS OF FISHERIES ...................................................................................................................... 16 GLOBAL OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................ 17 PHILIPPINES ............................................................................................................................................................ 17 HABITAT DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION ...................................................................................... 19 GLOBAL OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................ 19 PHILIPPINES ............................................................................................................................................................ 19 Mangroves ............................................................................................................................................................ 20 Seagrasses ............................................................................................................................................................ 20 Coral reefs ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Water quality ...................................................................................................................................................... 21 Climate change ................................................................................................................................................... 21 SEAHORSE CONSERVATION IN THE PHILIPPINES .................................................................... 22 CONSERVATION STATUS OF PHILIPPINE SEAHORSE SPECIES .......................................................................... 22 CONSERVATION ACTION FOR SEAHORSES IN THE PHILIPPINES ..................................................................... 23 Ecosystem protection ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Fisheries management .................................................................................................................................... 26 Trade management/CITES ........................................................................................................................... 28 2 CAPTIVE BREEDING/AQUACULTURE ........................................................................................... 29 GLOBAL OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................ 29 PHILIPPINES ............................................................................................................................................................ 30 SOCIAL, DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNANCE ....................................................................................... 30 TACKLING ILLEGAL FISHING ................................................................................................................................. 31 MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ................................................................................................................................ 31 SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES ....................................................................................................................................... 31 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 32 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 33 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 33 Suggested citation: Foster, S.J. and C.M. Apale. 2016. Exploitation, trade, conservation and management of seahorses in the Philippines. Project Seahorses and ZSL-Philippines. 40 pp. 3 INTRODUCTION This report aims to consolidate existing information on seahorse exploitation, consumption, trade and conservation of seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) in the Philippines to promote management derived from the best-available knowledge. This information is being provided in direct support of eventual implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for seahorses; all seahorses are listed on Appendix II of CITES which means trade is allowed only if it can be proved sustainable. It is our intention that this information will be fed into development of an adaptive management plan for sustainable exploitation and trade in seahorses under the new Fisheries Code or Republic Act 10654 which opens the door to future legal and sustainable seahorse fisheries and trades in the Philippines. CONSUMPTION, FISHERIES AND TRADE Data sources Information on exploitation, consumption and trade in seahorses in the Philippines has been gathered from: • First surveys: the first investigation into the international trade in syngnathids in 1993 and 1995 (Vincent 1996). • Second surveys: the second investigation into Philippines seahorse fisheries and trades in September 1998 and from April 1999 to March 2001 (Pajaro&Vincent 2015) • CITES data: trade involving the Philippines reported to the CITES trade database (UNEP–WCMC 2015) • Focused research activities: extensive semi-structured interviews, fisher completed logbooks, and participatory