Etsy have finally made a response to our petition. However, you will see that it s more of just the same stuff they have been spouting all along. Below is a copy of our response: Dear all at Etsy I see you have responded to our petition. I have to say your response is disappointing and I don’t think anyone will be happy with that. Regardless of whether seahorses are classified under CITES Appendix I or II, the simple fact remains they are in danger of extinction if the trade in them continues. Your suggestion for us to lobby CITES is ridiculous and another cop out from yourselves. Why does a creature have to be deemed really endangered (ie, Appendix I) for you to stop the trade in them on your site? Why can you not see and accept the facts that seahorses WILL BE EXTINCT in less than 30 years if the trade in them continues – trade which you are a part of. The fact that seahorses have had to be listed under CITES at all, rather than be left out of the list altogether, is testament to the fact that the species needs protecting – that is the whole point of CITES. Appendices count for nothing – the species has been declared endangered and in need of protection: On 15 May, seahorses became the first commercially valuable marine genus to be protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). A number of the world’s species of seahorses are threatened because of overfishing and unsustainable trade. IUCN lists nine seahorse species as vulnerable and one as endangered. Trade in recent years has been increasing at an 8-10 percent annual rate and an estimated 24 million seahorses are taken from the wild every year. Aquarium trade and use for traditional Chinese medicine are the two main uses of a seahorse. At least 77 countries are involved in the trade, making international regulations necessary to ensure the protection of seahorses. The conservation group Project Seahorse and the wildlife trade-monitoring organisation TRAFFIC recently produced an ID manual to help ensure the seahorse regulations are successful in conserving the animals. (https://www.ictsd.org/bridges-news/biores/news/seahorse-protected-under-cites 2004) Despite your assertion, one species of seahorse IS endangered – the others are vulnerable. Isn’t that enough for you to stop trading in them? If Ebay and Amazon can do it, why can’t you? Is it just a case of you don’t like being told what to do and so will resist every attempt to persuade you? There is no excuse for trading in seahorses – they are CITES protected, they are vulnerable and endangered and Etsy are contributing to this. I would draw your attention to the photos below which were taken recently undercover - just a tiny, tiny fraction of the seahorse trade. You will see that one of the murdered seahorses in pregnant – the potential for hundreds more lives gone in an agonising death roasting in the sun. THIS sort of practice is why seahorses are protected – pregnant ones are not thrown back into the ocean to keep the species going. I find it astonishing that you can look at these photos and not think, as a company, that you will now stop contributing to these deaths and do something noble and morally right. These photos can also be viewed on our Facebook page if they are not showing up in this email - https://www.facebook.com/groups/theseahorsetrust/permalink/1635901136431514/?comment_id=1636358696385758¬if_id=1507835534699908¬if_t=group_comment_reply You say that sellers come from all over the world with different rules. However, you still allow sellers to send seahorse products around the world from the US, for example – this is illegal so why do you persist in allowing them to sell? Why not follow up your claim that you remove such infringements by doing that and removing them? You refer to the fact you will only remove products highlighted by governing bodies – such bodies are already stretched for resources trying to stop other illegal animal trades, they don’t have time to monitor Etsy for infringements. That is Etsy’s job. And, in the meantime, when concerned members of the public report illegal sales you do nothing because they are not governing bodies. Absolutely ridiculous and an excuse for you to keep profiting. The fact that you don’t makes a mockery of your policies and not worth the paper they are printed on. A random search for real seahorses just now on your site revealed sellers shipping seahorse products worldwide from the US and Canada. Why haven’t you removed them when such sellers have been reported to you in the past? Some of your sellers even try to salve their consciences by saying their seahorses didn’t suffer and they died a natural death – there is no natural death for a seahorse taken from its habitat in the wild and it DID suffer when it died to make that revolting piece of jewellery or taxidermy. We will be taking steps to email your sellers who are contravening the law to advise them of the facts regarding trading in seahorses. If they carry on selling them despite being advised of the law, we will report these sellers to the relevant authorities as you yourselves are not prepared to remove illegal sales from your site when they are reported to you. We look forward to your further comments. From all at The Seahorse Trust and the 31,000+ people worldwide who want the trade in seahorses to stop