A. Species
Scientific name: Hippocampus zosterae
Common name(s): dwarf seahorse
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Atlantic - western central
Country/Region:
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Gulf of Mexico
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2020
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources
Lethal or non-lethal: Non-Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Keeping/companionship/display and Recreation
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community)
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: National / local private sector
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: compliance with all appropriate laws, regulations and catch quotas; applicant holds all necessary licenses. Daily catch limit is total of 400 individuals per boat; application is for total of 200 individuals; legal procedures and guidelines in place to ensure that no sexually immature animals get extracted and no reproducing ("pregnant") males
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: evidence that applicant is a commercial enterprise trading in wildlife
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: commercial enterprise; has held dwarf seahorse catch license in the past
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: live-caught animals for live export - procedures and guidelines in place to ensure animal welfare
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
only export of sexually mature (i.e., larger than 2 cm from coronet to tip of tail); minimise risk of inadvertently extracting brooding males; care should be taken not to deplete local colonies
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2023-09-11