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Straits Times, 28 Dec 04 Breakthrough in sea horses by Tracy Quek RESEARCHERS here have successfully developed the technology for breeding sea horses and giant clams in hatcheries - that's good news for hobbyists, Singapore's ornamental fish trade and environmentalists. The breakthrough means that these farmed sea creatures can be sold to hobbyists for their aquariums, and farmed sea horses can be used for traditional Chinese medicine. Stocks of these endangered creatures in the wild can also be boosted by the farmed variety. Buoyed by their success, the National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) on St John's Island is now looking for funds to work with regional research institutes, to produce the sea creatures commercially for the ornamental fish trade. Singapore is the world's leading exporter of ornamental fish and currently ranks first in the global export trade. The move towards commercial farming could be a money-spinner for Singapore as well. One local company, San Lay Marine Culture, which runs a fish farm and imports and exports fish, has collaborated with the institute in the hatchery project. It now has up to 2,000 sea horses at its farm. Owner Gary Chang, 47, said the hatchery-bred sea horses are hardy creatures. He is building up his stock so that he can start supplying aquarium shops here in the next few months. He reckons the sea horses could fetch more than $6 a piece, up from $3 to $4 a piece previously. This is because the trade in them was restricted recently. In May, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), to which Singapore is a signatory, categorised sea horses as mildly endangered and threatened if trade is not regulated. In accordance with Cites, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority started to regulate the import and export of sea horses in Singapore, from that month. Giant clams are also categorised as mildly endangered sea creatures. 'Five years ago, you'd be able to see sea horses and the clams in Singapore waters. These days, you're lucky if you spot one,' said TMSI research fellow Juan Wolford, adding that the loss of habitat is the main reason for the creatures' disappearance. Organisations monitoring international wildlife estimate that 20 million sea horses are consumed each year, in the hope of curing everything from asthma to impotence. The sea horse trade is huge. The sea horses can fetch up to $1,500 per kg in Hong Kong, where it is used mainly for traditional Chinese medicine, said Dr Konda Reddy, one of the researchers. For the scientists, the breakthrough came after more than two years of painstaking work. Sea horses are picky eaters and feed only on live plankton; they are also highly sensitive to changes in water temperature and quality, said Dr Reddy. They often do not survive more than a week in captivity without proper care. The sea horses the researchers have bred in the hatcheries are more adaptable to their environment and could live longer than wild ones as they are used to being handled. Wild ones cannot adapt to living in aquariums. The hatchery sea horses have also been trained to eat frozen and formulated dry feed. TMSI has also reintroduced some stock back into the wild in cages near Pulau Ubin and other sites. The researchers' work on giant clams has also paid off. They have successfully induced adult clams to spawn in captivity and have produced the first batch of baby clams. Unlike sea horses, the clams - which can grow up to 70cm across and live for years - are no trouble when it comes to feeding and are perfect for aquariums. Mr Edmund Verghese, 20, a full-time national serviceman who keeps marine fish, is all for commercially bred marine creatures. 'It will be good news if it means hobbyists can get stock easily and cheaply and, at the same time, stock in the wild will be preserved.' links Related articles on Putting a price on nature in Singapore |
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