Pot-bellied seahorses in Australia's Port Philip may be being poached by Hong Kong's "seahorse mafia" for use in the Chinese medicine trade, says a report in The Herald Sun.
Pot-bellied seahorses in Australia's Port Philip may be being poached by Hong Kong's "seahorse mafia" for use in the Chinese medicine trade, says a report in The Herald Sun.
The 13 Australian species of seahorse are protected by law but experts believe that they are being poached and sold on for the lucrative trade in Chinese medicine, where it is thought that seahorses act as an aphrodisiac.
The Chinese medicine trade removes far more seahorses than the aquarium trade and the industry is believed to be worth $100 million Australian dollars.