For fishermen horseshoe crabs are most sought after as the primary bait for conch, whelk and eels. It is said that the crab’s blood is used in the biomedical industry to test injectable drugs and vaccines for toxins. It is told that excessive harvesting of horseshoe crabs diminished their numbers but stringent regulations may be creating a stable population.
It was in March 2008 when Gov. Jon Corzine had signed legislation imposing a moratorium on harvesting horseshoe crabs in New Jersey. It is fact that over-harvesting of horseshoe crabs has led to a diminished supply of food for birds called red knots and has brought the species to the brink of extinction. Miraculously they arrive at exactly the time of year when the horseshoe crabs are laying eggs on the beach.
It is said that such horseshoe crab harvesting moratorium will remain in place until the populations of both horseshoe crabs and red knots have returned to a level where they will be self sustaining as determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Roy Miller, fisheries administrator with the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, explained that since 1989 his agency has used to do on a monthly basis to monitor the adult and juvenile horseshoe crab population. Horseshoe crabs are tagged and their migration studied.
According to Miller there was a considerable build up of crabs in their trawl survey in 2004 and then a decrease in 2006 and 2007. There was a considerable decline in population from 1990 to mid 1990’s. He further adds that red knots declined through 2003 with some recent stabilization of the population at a relatively low level in the 12,000 to 15,000 range from both sides of Delaware Bay.
