Experts believe that keeping stiff fines with ban on horseshoe crab fishing would be beneficial to the industry and help it to grow amid current crisis. But the fishermen pressurize the leaders to introduce a bill in the state Legislature that would dramatically reduce fines for illegally harvesting horseshoe crabs. But the bill has been put on hold which is now ought to be scrapped altogether. It was in March this year when Governor Jon Corzine signed a ban on harvesting horseshoe crabs.
It is true that numbers of the ancient species that populate the ocean and bays in New Jersey have been dwindling for years. It is said that the slow-moving, spider-like creatures are easy to catch, and they can be ground up to use for bait to catch other fish. Horseshoe crabs are a resource that needs to be protected for their own sake, as well as for that of the red knot, a migratory bird that feeds on horseshoe crab eggs.
State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, has proposed a bill lessening the fine from $10,000 to $2,500 for fishermen who violate the ban on catching horseshoe crabs. Van Drew’s bill says the fine reduction is needed because fishermen earn modest salaries. If the horseshoe crabs are worth protecting, then there’s no reason to open the door to people violating the ban.
