The traditional Chinese medicine trade for dried seahorses causes mass mortality of wild populations and significant welfare harm throughout the supply chain from ocean to final product.
Seahorse traditional medicine welfare involves both direct harm (capture, drying, death) and the conservation welfare of declining populations. Wild seahorse populations in high-demand fishery areas show measurable declines, meaning surviving individuals face increased competition for the seagrass and coral habitat that is simultaneously declining from climate and development pressure. The welfare case for avoiding seahorse products is direct — each seahorse dried for medicine suffered during the process — and indirect — reducing demand protects populations whose individuals experience welfare harm from overfishing stress.