Under the Philippine Fisheries Code, it is illegal to catch seahorses. So when Coast Guard and agents of the Bureau of Customs (BoC), Philippine Ports Authority and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources discovered dried seahorses packed in 15 sacks inside a container van at the Port of Zamboanga last Wednesday, the shipment was seized.

The shipment which was tipped off to authorities came from Tawi-Tawi and consigned to Ramon Sayson of Caloocan City. BoC agents estimated the cargo to be worth P3.6 million and bound for China.

Seahorses are endangered fishes but some people disregard the law to make a profit. In Hong Kong, dried seahorses sell for $2,500 per kilo. They were turned into a Chinese traditional medicine for treatment of various ailments, including asthma, infections of the throat, insomnia and abdominal pain. However, there is no scientific basis as to the curative powers of powdered seahorses.

There is even a rumor that seahorses have aphrodisiac properties and can cure erectile dysfunction. But seahorses are best left alone and alive so they can address their own population problem instead of serving as a sex driver for the already overpopulated human race.