Seahorse uses in Malaysia 721
Malay communities also use seahorse extracts in ointments for externalmedicinal application, and they believe in keep- ing dried seahorses to repel evil spirits (Choo &Liew, 2005). In addition, dried seahorses are used as curios, souvenirs and jewellery, and live seahorses are also kept as aquarium fishes (Choo & Liew, 2005; Perry et al., 2010). The seahorse trade involves various actors including
fishers, buyers, exporters, wholesalers and retailers before reaching end consumers (Vincent, 1996). In recent years, conservationists have recognized that interventions aimed at end consumers are an important approach to help curb unsustainable wildlife consumption and shift to more sus- tainable alternatives (Veríssimo & Wan, 2018; Veríssimo et al., 2018). To implement such interventions, it is vital to understand consumer behaviours and use patterns (Vincent, 1996). In the absence of formal records of seahorse uses, sur- veying resource users such as members of the public may be the best available method of gathering information across large geographical areas within practicable timeframes (Perry et al., 2010). Clarification of the role of consumers in driving unsustainable wildlife trade could also create opportunities for communities to support marine management (McKinley &Fletcher, 2012). Malaysia, a multicultural country with over 65 ethnic
groups, is home to vital seahorse habitats and is located at the centre of the Indo-Pacific seahorse trade (Vincent, 1996; Choo & Liew, 2005). Eight of the 12 seahorse species found in Malaysian waters are commonly traded (Lim et al., 2011; Aylesworth et al., 2016), reportedly for use in traditional Chinese medicine (Perry et al., 2010). Seahorse exportation is not banned in Malaysia, but claims of there being no such exportation have been made since 2014 (Foster, 2023). Seahorses are not protected locally, and there are no local regulations of seahorse trade or catch des- pite the fact that eight out of the 12 local species are categor- ized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2021). Local traditional medicinal use of seahorses has been and purportedly still is widespread for the treatment of diseases amongst Malaysian communities (Halim et al., 2017). The use of seahorses and their associated cultural value in Malaysia varies between regions (Choo & Liew, 2005), and documentation on the culturally specific uses of seahorses and the purported benefits remains sparse. Overlooking socio-cultural complexities can under-
mine conservation effectiveness (Bennett et al., 2017; Margulies et al., 2019). Therefore, our study aimed to ad- dress knowledge gaps by examining how ethnicity and other socio-demographic drivers shape seahorse use amongst Malaysians, using a questionnaire-based survey. Additionally, we aimed to determine the perceptions of survey respondents regarding the level of threats to sea- horses. We hypothesized that seahorse uses would be closely associated with ethnic group, gender, education level, locality, location setting and occupational background
(Kellert & Berry, 1980; Thompson & Mintzes, 2002; Choo & Liew, 2005;Suleiman, 2014;Boakye, 2018; Naylor & Parsons, 2018).
Study area
Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country that is home to three major ethnic groups: Malays (70% of the population), Chinese (23%) and Indians (6%), as well as many other, smaller groups (1%; Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2022). Ethnic composition of the population varies by re- gion, andwe considered four major regions for the purposes of this study: the west, east and south coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, and Borneo. In Peninsular Malaysia, the Indigenous communities, collectively known as Orang Asli, comprise three major groups: Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay. Within Borneo, of the c. 60 ethnic groups, the Kadazandusun and Iban are the major ethnic groups in the states of Sabah and Sarawak, respectively (Department of Information, 2016). In Peninsular Malaysia, fishers are predominantly Malays (65.3%), fol- lowed by Chinese (31.1%), other ethnicities (2.5%) and Indians (1.1%; Department of Fisheries Malaysia, 2021).
Methods
Survey design To gain insights into seahorse use by the general public, we hosted a questionnaire-based survey on Google Forms (Google, 2022) for 14 months during March 2021–April 2022. Google Forms is an appropriate survey tool for gathering information over large geographical areas within practicable timeframes (Nurmahmudah & Nuryuniarti, 2020). This online approach was necessary because of the travel restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic that were in effect during the survey period. We distributed the form through various online and social media platforms to ensurewe reached a wide range of respondents from various backgrounds. Specifically, we posted the questionnaire link on the Facebook (Meta Platforms, 2022a) and Instagram (Meta Platforms, 2022b) pages of Save Our Seahorses (SOS) Malaysia, a local NGO, and on the personal profiles of team members. In addition, we also circulated the form randomly to contacts of the authors via the messaging apps Telegram (Telegram, 2022) and WhatsApp (Meta Platforms, 2022c). The online approach alone would probably fail to reach
the fisher groups that are of interest for this study. Therefore, we concurrently conducted a survey targeted specifically at fishers, which had overlapping questionnaire components with the online public survey.Weadministered the fisher survey either face to face or through phone calls
Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 720–729 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000425
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