Friends of the Irish Environment have lodged a complaint with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources over the first Irish seahorse farm, based in Connemara.
The environmental group says that it is "opposed both to the sale of seahorses for the traditional Asian medicine trade as an aphrodisiac and the aquarium trade, to which the Irish operation is geared".
Seahorses are valued in China as a cure for impotence, heart disease and other ailments, and more than 30 million are killed each year to be dried as traditional medicine.
Mr Kealan Doyle of Eachuisce Éireann Teo (Seahorse Ireland) said that his project is conservation-based, aimed at protecting wild stocks by supplying to aquaria, and has the backing of bodies such as the Seahorse Trust in England, which has international links.
Mr Neil Garrick-Maidment, director of the Seahorse Trust, told The Irish Times his organisation supported the Irish project "100 per cent", and its focus was conservation. "This project is very worthwhile, in that it is trying to protect these fish. The technology Mr Doyle is developing will support community-based projects elsewhere."
Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) said the project did not have planning permission or an aquaculture licence, and has lodged a complaint about this with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. It has formed a body to oppose the venture, known as Friends of the Irish Seahorse (FISH).
"The relevant legislation requires a licence for the "culture" of these animals, regardless if the purpose is commercial or not," Mr Andy Scollick, a spokesperson for FISH, stated.
The group also says the environmental impact of the development has not been assessed in relation to potential transmission of disease to Ireland's native seahorse species; and potential threat to the wild populations if further specimens are required for further breeding.
"Conditions must be imposed at State - and ultimately EU - level to ensure that this or any similar operation will not be extended to the oriental trade, displacing local subsistence fisheries," Mr Scollick added.
-"Without an environmental impact statement or aquaculture licence, we have no way to tell if such an accident could damage Ireland's wild seahorse populations."
A spokesman for the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said that the project did not require an aquaculture licence as it was at research and development stage.
Mr Kealan Doyle of Seahorse Ireland said that the research was being carried out under the aegis of NUI, Galway.
