Latest news with #OceansAsia
Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Famed Thai bay once decimated by tourism is now teeming with sharks. See them
Researchers in Thailand have documented the largest school of blacktip reef sharks ever recorded during an annual shark survey. Up to 158 sharks, all part of the same group, were recorded in Maya Bay during the Shark Watch Project survey that took place between July 2 and 8, according to a July 9 Facebook post from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. The research team used drones to count the number of sharks and underwater cameras to observe their behavior, according to wildlife experts. The presence of the school indicates the ecosystem within Maya Bay is healthy and able to sustain a large population, according to the post. Decimated ecosystem rebounds According to the conservation group OceansAsia, decades of unregulated tourism to Maya Bay decimated its ecosystem, leaving the seafloor 'devoid of any life.' The bay was closed in 2019 to allow for conservation efforts and natural restoration of the habitat. Thailand national park staff and volunteers planted coral for nearly a year and a half. About 16 months later, a group of over 100 blacktip reef sharks returned to the bay, which they used as a nursery, according to the group. Maya Bay, which can see up to 4,000 visitors per day, was reopened in 2022 but now closes from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 each year for conservation efforts, according to government officials and travel websites. Maya Bay is on Phi Phi Leh Island, located off the southeast coast of Phuket. Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
CTV News
01-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Millions of seahorses smuggled in global illegal trade, UBC researchers say
Nearly five million smuggled seahorses were seized by authorities across the globe over a 10-year span, according to a new study out of the University of British Columbia—which warns the illegal trade is far larger. The study, published last week in the science journal Conservation Biology, analyzed seizure records available online between 2010 and 2021 and found smuggling incidents in 62 countries. Researchers estimated the seizures were worth a combined $29 million. 'The nearly 300 seizures we analyzed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures including government notices and news stories. This means that what we're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg,' said author Dr. Sarah Foster, a researcher at UBC's Project Seahorse, in a media release. The fish were most commonly found in passenger baggage at airports or in cargo at sea. Dried seahorses are widely used in traditional medicine and are most often bound for China and Hong Kong, often seized alongside other illegally traded wildlife like elephant ivory. The study found emerging trade routes in Europe and Latin America, suggesting the global trade is diversifying. 'All countries must step up with strong deterrents — good detective work, determined enforcement, and meaningful penalties — to shut down the illegal seahorse trade,' said author Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, director of research at OceansAsia, in the release. 'At the same time, we must continue using innovative research and investigation methods to uncover hidden networks and outpace traffickers.' The international seahorse trade is allowed if it adheres to regulations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an agreement signed by 184 countries. It requires exporters to have a permit and prove the fish are being harvested sustainably. Countries' challenges to meet those obligations did not end the seahorse trade, but moved it underground, according to Project Seahorse. 'Illegal trade under bans and suspensions was predictable. Most seahorses are caught by non-selective fishing gear, primarily bottom trawls. As long as such fisheries persist, seahorses will be caught and available for trade,' reads its website. The researchers suggest incentivizing traders to operate legally, rather than stopping seahorse sale altogether. 'We need to make sustainable, legal trade viable enough that people obey the laws, and ensure that we also have sufficient deterrents to stop illegal activity,' said Foster. 'We've done work with traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong, and when we ask them, 'How long do you want seahorses around?', they say 'Forever, they're really important!' And we agree.'
