Seahorses face conservation threats from the aquarium trade, traditional medicine, and bycatch, with welfare harms throughout the supply chain from ocean to aquarium.
Seahorse welfare in trade involves the full cascade of harm: wild capture using trawls kills seahorses through air exposure and crushing; holding facilities stress them through inadequate conditions; transport imposes further physiological stress; and many aquarium keepers lack the knowledge to maintain them successfully. Wild-caught seahorses typically die within weeks in home aquariums. The conservation and welfare case both point to the same solution: cease wild capture and support captive breeding programmes that produce seahorses pre-adapted to aquarium conditions.