Uncertain future for The Seahorse Trust     Seahorses, those enigmatic stunning little ‘horses of the sea’ are probably one of the most beguiling fish a marine keeper can have in their tank; they are a fish of myth and legend, of beauty and tragedy and probably one of the hardest marine fish to keep and breed successfully.   Often we see a very sad looking Seahorse in a fish shop that has been through the mill in its long and traumatic journey to that tank. Aquarists are drawn to this beautiful fish like moths to a light and that impulse buy can be the start down a road of heart break and trauma, awe and wonder, frustration and headache not just for the Seahorse but for its proud owner as well who struggles to find accurate, helpful information on how to keep them as well as how to breed them.   The Seahorse Trust set up by its founder Neil Garrick-Maidment have always been there to help aquarists who are in trouble with Seahorses, unlike other organisations The Seahorse Trust has always believed in serious aquarists keeping Seahorses privately and recognise the fact that they have a major contribution to make to conservation and research although they do try to discourage casual aquarists from keeping them.   Over Neil’s 29 years of experience and success in breeding 20 species of Seahorse to multiple generations (over 30,000 Kynsna Seahorses alone) and 6 world first breeding including the British Isles own two native species. He has witnessed booms and bust in Seahorse keeping and he is now a firm advocate of only keeping captive bred Seahorses to stop the strain on the wild populations. He believes in sharing knowledge amongst other aquarists and endeavours to reply to any request for help that he may get; although occasionally one or two get through the net.   A few years ago Neil set up a shrimp farm to fund all the work of the trust out of his own pocket, to try and reduce the boom and bust situation all charities find themselves in as funds ebb and flow and it worked well and allowed the trust to do an immense amount of work helping private aquarists, public aquariums around the world, other research organisations and in its own Seahorse research in the waters of the British Isles through its British Seahorse Survey (www.britishseahorsesurvey.org ) and its captive breeding work. They have become the foremost charity in support of Seahorses around the world and have gained a worldwide reputation for there work, research and sharing of knowledge.   But all this will be coming to an end very soon without urgent help; The Seahorse Trust like many charities in the UK is totally reliant on grants and donations from others to keep it going. Unfortunately with the closing of the shrimp farm The Seahorse Trust faces closing the doors forever unless it can get donations and sponsorship very quickly to support this much needed work. They are frantically writing applications and applying for funding from grant giving bodies and companies and private individuals but in this economic climate there are so many worth while organisations going through the same process and the pot of money is getting increasingly smaller by the day.   The Seahorse Trust is often behind Seahorse stories in the media and for those of you who saw the stunning images on Autumn Watch or some of the articles that have graced magazines, television and journals over the years and have marvelled at such stunning creatures all of this is done free of charge to progress the knowledge and awe of Seahorses worldwide and to get the public as interested and fascinated by Seahorses as they are.   Those of you who have received free advice from the trust; no matter what time of day or night (often late into the night when a Seahorse is in trouble) will appreciate a voice at the end of the phone when the advice is needed.   They need your help now to keep going and to be able to continue the work they are doing, please dig deep into your pockets and send a donation to keep the work going, better still set up a standing order to them each month; just a few pounds will help and remember that if you are a standard UK tax payer to gift aid it to them, they will send you a gift aid form.   Please note the trust does not have a formal membership scheme at the moment as they want to put every penny into the work they do.   Visit their websites www.theseahorsetrust.co.uk or www.britishseahorsesurvey.org and look up there details, if you like and want to support there work make a donation, direct to there bank (details on the websites) or by cheque to the trust office.   With your help they can and will make a difference to natures most enigmatic fish and as there motto says they are “Working in partnership with nature” help them to keep doing this and future generations.