Seahorses face mounting pressure from wild capture for traditional medicine, the aquarium trade, and habitat destruction — their unique biology makes them particularly vulnerable to welfare harms.
Wild-caught seahorses destined for the aquarium trade suffer significant welfare harms — capture by trawl or net causes physical injury, and transport under poor conditions causes high mortality. Seahorses in aquaria without appropriate salinity, temperature, live food, and stable social companions deteriorate rapidly. The prolonged stress of captivity in inadequate conditions causes a slow decline rather than acute death — meaning animals may suffer for extended periods before dying. Captive-bred seahorses by specialist breeders perform dramatically better, and represent the ethical choice when aquarium keeping is pursued at all. The traditional medicine trade in dried seahorses involves mass collection of wild animals without regard for welfare or sustainability.