Alarm raised over sale of Knysna’s seahorses

SECURITY at the Garden Route National Park has been beefed up in an effort to catch people behind the illegal sale of seahorses around Knysna.

The Knysna Basin Project said one of its members was approached to buy a seahorse on the causeway to Thesen Island by a man implicated in the illegal trade last week.

The member reported the incident to rangers of SANParks in the national park.

Senior marine section ranger Owen Govender said it was illegal to capture, disturb, keep or sell seahorses without a permit from either the Department of Environmental Affairs or the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

“The Knysna seahorse is an endangered species that is protected under the SA Environmental Management Biodiversity Act of 2004, so they may not be disturbed or removed from the Knysna estuary,” Govender said. “SANParks calls on the police, as well as the community policing structures, to assist in this matter.”

Seahorses have recently been caught during low tide with fishing nets.

Govender said the unusual arrangement of its fins made the seahorse a slow swimmer and that the fish species relied on camouflage to escape detection by predators.

Melaney Barrath, a conservationist for the Knysna section of the park, said male seahorses had a pouch, much the same as female kangaroos.

The male “gives birth” to the offspring. The female lays her eggs in his pouch and when ready, the babies hatch from within the pouch.

“The Knysna seahorse is the world’s only known estuarine species. They are found in calm water among the eelgrass along the length of the estuary,” Barrath said.

Anyone who spots any illegal activity is asked to call (044) 302-5646 or (044) 382-2095.