Project Seahorse

Last updated
Project Seahorse
Founded1996
Founders Amanda Vincent
Heather Koldewey
Focus Marine conservation
Location
Area served
Worldwide
Website projectseahorse.org

Project Seahorse is a marine conservation organization committed to the conservation and sustainable use of coastal marine ecosystems in general, and seahorses in particular. It is based at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (University of British Columbia) [1] in Canada, and Zoological Society of London in the UK. [2]

Contents

Operations

A Project Seahorse Researcher studying a seahorse underwater. Researcher studying seahorses underwater.jpg
A Project Seahorse Researcher studying a seahorse underwater.

By working to protect seahorses, Project Seahorse supports marine conservation more broadly. These fish are affected by similar environmental and over-fishing pressures as all marine organisms, and benefit from similar conservation measures. The organization's work focuses on not just biological seahorse research, but also on marine fish populations, ecosystems, fishing communities, national and global trade issues, and policy and public outreach.

A small team of scientists and conservationists with offices at UBC, Vancouver, Canada and the Zoological Society of London, UK, Project Seahorse works all over the world, with research and conservation projects in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. It was founded in 1996 by the seahorse researchers Amanda Vincent and Heather Koldewey. Today, Vincent is the Director and Koldewey is the Field Conservation Manager. Field work began in the Philippine community of Handumon on Jandayan Island, Bohol in the 1990s, and has expanded to Europe, Central and South America, east and southeast Asia, Africa, and North America. Project Seahorse is recognised as the IUCN Red List authority on seahorses and their related species. [3]

Project Seahorse published a history of its first decade, Project Seahorse at 1] in 2006, and then a 20 year retrospective in 2016.

Research

Researchers study the biology, distribution, ecology, habitat, and population numbers of seahorse species around the world in the context of marine conservation.

Species researched include these:

Achievements

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishery</span> Raising or harvesting fish

Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place. Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both in freshwater waterbodies and the oceans. About 500 million people worldwide are economically dependent on fisheries. 171 million tonnes of fish were produced in 2016, but overfishing is an increasing problem — causing declines in some populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable fishery</span> Sustainable fishing for the long term fishing

A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplines, such as the population dynamics of fisheries, with practical strategies, such as avoiding overfishing through techniques such as individual fishing quotas, curtailing destructive and illegal fishing practices by lobbying for appropriate law and policy, setting up protected areas, restoring collapsed fisheries, incorporating all externalities involved in harvesting marine ecosystems into fishery economics, educating stakeholders and the wider public, and developing independent certification programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pauly</span> French-born marine biologist (born 1946)

Daniel Pauly is a French-born marine biologist, well known for his work in studying human impacts on global fisheries and in 2020 was the most cited fisheries scientist in the world. He is a professor and the project leader of the Sea Around Us Project at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia. He also served as Director of the UBC Fisheries Centre from November 2003 to October 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leafy seadragon</span> Species of fish

The leafy seadragon or Glauert's seadragon, is the only member of the genus Phycodurus and is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syngnathidae</span> Family of fishes

The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons. The name is derived from Ancient Greek: σύν, meaning "together", and γνάθος, meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the traits that the entire family have in common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common seadragon</span> Species of fish

The common seadragon or weedy seadragon is a marine fish related to the seahorses. Adult common seadragons are a reddish colour, with yellow and purple markings; they have small leaf-like appendages that resemble kelp fronds providing camouflage and a number of short spines for protection. Males have narrower bodies and are darker than females. Seadragons have a long dorsal fin along the back and small pectoral fins on either side of the neck, which provide balance. Common seadragons can reach 45 cm (18 in) in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine conservation</span> Protection and preservation of saltwater ecosystems

Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is informed by the study of marine plants and animal resources and ecosystem functions and is driven by response to the manifested negative effects seen in the environment such as species loss, habitat degradation and changes in ecosystem functions and focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, restoring damaged marine ecosystems, and preserving vulnerable species and ecosystems of the marine life. Marine conservation is a relatively new discipline which has developed as a response to biological issues such as extinction and marine habitats change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West African seahorse</span> Species of fish

The West African seahorse is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae. It is found in the eastern central Atlantic Ocean off Angola, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, as well as the Canary Islands. Although there have been no records from Algeria since Guichenot said that the type was collected at Béjaïa in the 1850s, but the location given may be an error.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbour's seahorse</span> Species of fish

Barbour's seahorse is a species of fish of the family Syngnathidae.

Sustainable seafood is seafood that is caught or farmed in ways that consider the long-term vitality of harvested species and the well-being of the oceans, as well as the livelihoods of fisheries-dependent communities. It was first promoted through the sustainable seafood movement which began in the 1990s. This operation highlights overfishing and environmentally destructive fishing methods. Through a number of initiatives, the movement has increased awareness and raised concerns over the way our seafood is obtained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Koldewey</span> British biologist

Heather Koldewey is the co-founder of Project Seahorse and head of marine and freshwater for the Zoological Society of London-London Zoo Aquarium. She additionally serves as an honorary professor for University of Exeter and a National Geographic explorer. Her research interests focus on marine and freshwater conservation, seahorse biology and genetics, and the impact of the aquarium trade on wild populations of fish and aquatic invertebrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Vincent</span> Marine biologist

Amanda Vincent is a Canadian marine biologist and conservationist, one of the world's leading experts on seahorses and their relatives. She currently holds the chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group and is the marine representative on the IUCN's International Red List Committee as well as being the chair of its Marine Conservation Committee. She previously held the Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada from 2002 to 2012. Vincent co-founded and directs Project Seahorse, an interdisciplinary and international organization committed to conservation and sustainable use of the world's coastal marine ecosystems. In 2020 she became the first marine conservationist to win the world's leading prize for animal conservation, the Indianapolis Prize.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fisheries:

<i>Hippocampus patagonicus</i> Species of fish

The Patagonian seahorse is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It inhabits coastal waters from northeastern Brazil to Chubut, Argentina. It generally is found at shallow depths attached to natural or artificial substrates. This species is ovoviviparous, with males brooding eggs in a brood pouch before giving birth to live young.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Southern Reef</span> Interconnected temperate rocky reefs across the southern coast of continental Australia and Tasmania

The Great Southern Reef is a system of interconnected reefs that spans the southern coast of continental Australia and Tasmania and extends as far north as Brisbane to the east and Kalbarri to the west. It covers 71,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi) of ocean and straddles five states, running along the coast for 8,000 km (5,000 mi).

The UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) is a research unit at the University of British Columbia (UBC) that was formed in 2015 by incorporating members from the former UBC Fisheries Centre, as well as a subset of researchers that are conducting marine related research at UBC. The IOF developed its own graduate program, which welcomed its first cohort of graduate students in September 2019. In addition to students of its OCF program, members are also drawn from other graduate programs at UBC, primarily from the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, the Departments of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Zoology, Geography, and Botany, and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. The UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries brings together a community of Canadian and international experts in ocean and freshwater species, systems, economics, and issues to provide new insights into how global marine systems function, and the impacts of human activity on those systems. It is working towards a world in which the oceans are healthy and their resources are used sustainably and equitably. IOF is located at The University of British Columbia, and promotes multidisciplinary study of aquatic ecosystems and broad-based collaboration with researchers, educators, maritime communities, government, NGOs, and other partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine Conservation Cambodia</span>

Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC) is a non-profit, marine conservation organisation based in Koh Ach Seh, Kep archipelago.

<i>Histiogamphelus cristatus</i> Species of fish

Histiogamphelus cristatus, known as Macleay's crested pipefish or rhino pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Sygnathidae. This species can be found in a variety of marine habitats such as seagrass beds, sandy ocean bottoms, and estuaries, surrounding south and southwestern Australia. Their main source of food are small crustaceans found in the water column or in sediments. Males of the species brood eggs and give birth to live offspring.

<i>Urocampus nanus</i> Species of fish

Urocampus nanus, commonly known as the barbed pipefish, is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. This family consists of 56 different genera and 320 species.

<i>Vanacampus phillipi</i> Species of fish

Vanacampus phillipi, also known as the Port Phillip pipefish is a species of marine fish belonging to the family Syngnathidae. They can be found inhabiting seaweed and seagrass beds along the southern coast of Australia from Perth to Jervis Bay, New South Wales including the coast of Tasmania. Their diet consists of small crustaceans such as copepods, amphipods, and mysid shrimps. Reproduction occurs through ovoviviparity in which the males brood eggs before giving live birth to 50 or less offspring.

References

  1. "Research Units | Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries". oceans.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  2. "Project Seahorse". Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  3. "IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish & Seadragon". IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish & Seadragon. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Project Seahorse". Project Seahorse. Retrieved 2020-05-28.