100 pounds of dried seahorse seized in Zamboanga airport

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities have seized Tuesday over 100 pounds of dried seahorse at the Zamboanga International Airport in southern Philippines.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has confirmed the confiscation of the contraband following a routine security inspection of the cargo. It said the dried seahorse, used widely in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), can fetch up to P600,000 in the black market as it is thought to cure asthma, skin infections, impotence and can act as a natural Viagra.

 

The cargo, declared as assorted barter goods, was bound for Manila, according to BFAR.

Photos released by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources show the confiscated dried seahorse. (Mindanao Examiner)

It said a member of the Police Aviation Security Group, Staff Sergeant Albasir Kairan discovered the illegal shipment after inspecting three boxes of cargo. Kairan informed the findings to BFAR quarantine officer Remelyn Atilano who ordered the confiscation of the cargo.  

 

Atilano said under the law, it is illegal or prohibited to trade dried seahorse. She was referring to Section 102 of Republic Act 8550 as amended by Republic Acts 10654 and 9147 or “The Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act” which prohibits the killing and trading of endangered species.

 

BFAR did not release the names of the shipper and consignee of the cargo, but said “the The PNP Aviation Security Unit 9 headed by Major Sharwin C. Concha turned over the confiscated items to DA-BFAR 9, particularly at the regional office for safekeeping, issuance of Notice of Violation followed by filing of appropriate administrative and criminal case to the owner of the confiscated items.”

 

According to Project Seahorse, a marine conservation organization, seahorses were used variously in the Philippines, including for medical purposes and good luck charms. It said coastal people of Mindanao and the central Visayas use seahorses to treat asthma, gas pains and hyperactivity.

 

In, Palawan, claims that seahorses cure asthma probably derive from TCM practices. On Bohol, and occasionally Palawan, seahorses were found to be used chiefly to treat stomach upsets. A local medicine man in Luzon prescribed a mixture of seahorses and herbs to patients with skin disorders, and one former seahorse trader had used seahorses to cure his arthritis.

 

Fishers in some areas believe that ingesting a seahorse soaked in liquid (usually alcohol) will promote vigour and fertility, whereas fishers in Bohol explained that seahorse young – which they believed to be high in vitamins – served as a tonic food. Merchants in southern Philippines believe that a seahorse brings profits. Some villagers in Palawan hang a seahorse in the doorway to ward off evil spirits.

 

Seahorses were also an important part of shellcraft and the curio trade in the Philippines, with large volumes of dried seahorses finding their way into cheap seaside scenes and paperweights. Importers apparently requested small spiny seahorses, which would be

considered very poor quality for TCM. While mostly for export, souvenir shops in Palawan and Cebu, and resorts in Balicasag (Bohol) and Boracay, sold seahorses to local and foreign tourists.

 

The souvenir shops were supplied by traders from the same province and sold the seahorses dried and individually. The dried seahorses in the resorts were also sold individually and peddled by children or women along the beaches. (Al Jacinto)