Captive breeding programmes fulfil several roles in conservation as outlined by the IUCN Technical Guidelines on the Management of Ex situ Populations for Conservation:

	To increase public and political awareness and understanding of important conservation issues
	To coordinate genetic and demographic population management of threatened taxa
	To re-introduce and support to wild populations (if applicable – see later)
	Habitat restoration and management
	Long-term gene and biomaterial banking
	Institutional strengthening and professional capacity building
	Biological and ecological research relevant to in situ conservation
	Fundraising to support efforts to conserve species in situ (i.e. in the field)

However, it must be noted that in certain cases, it may be more beneficial to harvest a limited number of individuals from the wild in order to ensure their survival. For example, the Marine Aquarium Council Certification System covers both practices (industry operators, facilities and collection areas) and products (aquarium organisms), from reef to retail ensuring a value in the reef, there by ensuring the reef’s survival. Project Seahorse aims to do similar things with seahorse harvesting and has lobbied CITES to ensure the legislation on seahorse trading is much tighter giving more return to the fishermen per seahorse.