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History
- Referred to environmental conservation
- Referred to environmental conservation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Prohibits the commercial taking of northern or lined seahorses
In Senate Committee · Environmental Conservation · Sponsor Steven Englebright
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting the taking of northern or lined seahorses for commercial purposes
Purpose
To prohibit the taking of the northern or lined seashorse (Hippocampus erectus) for commercial purposes.
Summary of provisions
This bill amends environmental conservation law by adding a new section 13-0310
Justification
An unregulated harvest and pet trade currently exists in seahorses (Hippocampus erectus). The northern seahorse is traded for use as aquarium fishes, ornamental displays, curios and traditional Chinese medicine.
Long Island's south shore estuaries provide habitat to the northern or lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) during the warmer months of the year. The Northern Seahorse can be common in the Great South and Moriches Bay during the summer where it concentrates in vegetated areas like eelgrass beds, but is apparently absent or very rare in the winter. It also appears to be absent in other estuaries surrounding Long Island. It is thought that this species undergoes seasonal movements in which moves into shallow coastal waters as they warm and then migrates off-shore during the winter months.
Seahorse behavior is characterized by monogamous pairing and fidelity to narrow home ranges amongst all species studied. Being slow-moving or attached to eelgrass with their prehensile tails northern seahorses can be easily captured by sweeping through eelgrass beds with seine nets. Seahorses are very difficult to keep alive in captivity. Little is know about their overall abundance or population trends so it is unclear whether they can sustain the level of harvest to which they are currently being subjected. Any harvesting should only be for scientific or educational purposes.
Legislative history
2007-08: S.7724-A
Fiscal implications
No fiscal implications.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.