​Millions of seahorses die every year for fashion - and Etsy has been asked to help stop the trade

Online crafts retailer Etsy has been condemned for allowing the sale of jewellery made from endangered seahorses.

The Seahorse Trust charity says it has found multiple sellers on the website flogging trinkets made from the protected animals.

Legally, the fish – which are killed and dried before use – can’t be sold as they are protected under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which also regulates and prohibits the sale of ivory.

Even antique seahorse products must have a CITES certificate before they can be sold.

Millions of seahorses are killed every year for fashion accessories, trinkets and Chinese medicine.

It is projected that in 30 years, most or possibly all species could become extinct.

However, Etsy still allows people to sell seahorse products – unlike rival Ebay, which has banned their sale.

The Seahorse Trust has launched a change.org petition, which had almost 37,000 signatures at time of writing, which calls for Etsy to stop the sale of the creatures.

A spokesperson said: “We would ask Etsy to either ban the sale of seahorse products or, at the very least to ensure legal regulations are complied with, make it a requirement for sellers of seahorse products to ask for CITES proof when ads are submitted.

“Better, Etsy should take the moral stance and ban the sale of seahorse products altogether, which Ebay has already done.

“By allowing the sale of real seahorse products, online marketplaces such as Etsy are condoning this trade and also contributing to the demand for seahorse products and thereby their continued killing.”

However, a spokesperson for Etsy said it allows the sale of seahorses becauuse the animals are not endangered enough.

The company's Jenny Gresham said seahorses are not given the highest level of CITES protection, listed on Appendix 1 of the treaty, therefore their sale is not monitored.

She said: “Regarding animal products on our platform, we follow international industry standards to ban endangered and threatened animal species, as outlined in CITES Appendix I.

“With the help of trusted NGO partners, we proactively remove CITES Appendix I species from our marketplace. We also require that our sellers agree to our policies when they list items for sale on our site, which includes following their local laws and obtaining any necessary permits.

“Seahorses fall under CITES Appendix II, which means that they are not endangered, but some jurisdictions require sellers to obtain permits in order to sell them. While we do not monitor CITES Appendix II species, we will remove listings reported to us by a government agency in jurisdictions where their sale is prohibited.”