Hey, it’s not all about politics. And it is a myth that conservatives do not care about the environment and all the critters on this planet.
Three years ago an article on the harvesting horseshoe crabs caught my eye because I grew up on the Jersey shore and was always fascinated with them as a kid.
Now with the environment under assault by the disaster in the Gulf, and the anemic effort by BP and the Obama administration to protect the sensitive southern shore, thought I’d dredge up this three year old post.
Quick update… in 2009 the harvesting of horseshoe crabs continued in Delaware. Because it takes years for horseshoe crabs to reach sexual maturity, not entirely clear what the long term impact will be.
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Horseshoe Crabs in the News – June 10, 2007
That’s right folks, the topic of the day is horseshoe crabs.
Growing up on the Jersey shore, I became fascinated with these misunderstood creatures. Sometimes I would walk the beach along Sandy Hook’s bayside as the horseshoe crabs crawled onto the beach to mate. Being surrounded by hundreds of these prehistoric creatures was an amazing experience.
On one occasion, when I was about 19, I found several horseshoe crabs flipped onto their backs to bake and die in the midday sun. As I righted them and helped them back into the water, I was approached by a group of “fishermen” working with nets (illegal in this conservation area) who tried to stop me because in their country it is well known that the horseshoe crab, with its long tail that resembles a deadly spike, are evil and must be destroyed. The depth of their ignorance stunned me at the time, but it is possible to see how ignorance could turn to fear based upon their somewhat intimidating appearance:
I tried to convince them these were harmless creatures and that they were a critical link in the ecosystem, but they continued to go about their business flipping crabs onto their shells to bake… so I drove to the nearby ranger station and reported them.
Why this issue now and why should we care?
From AP: A judge has struck down Delaware’s two-year ban on harvesting horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay, saying the crustaceans’ population is healthy enough to allow a limited harvest.
The state failed to prove its case in favor of the ban, Superior Court Judge Richard Stokes ruled Friday in a lawsuit filed by two businesses involved in the harvest and sale of the crabs. He said that while the crab population was seriously depleted by overharvesting through 1998, it has since stabilized.
The judge said allowing a limited crab harvest of 100,000 males would have a “very minimal effect” on the crab population.
100,000 males? Aside from wondering how the judge plans to enforce a limit of 100,000 males, what measures have been put in place to ensure that this judge is correct in his assessment that the harvesting will have a “very minimal effect”? What if he is wrong? From 1990-1995 the horseshoe crab population in Delaware dropped from 1.2 million to 200,000.
Aside from the arguments that were presented to the judge regarding the impact on a food source for endangered migratory birds, who rely on horseshoe crab eggs, if horseshoe crabs were to be driven to extinction, the loss would be significant. This would not be just another lost species.
The horseshoe crab has existed, virtually unchanged, for about 350 million years! They are extremely valuable to the medical community because of their copper based blood (as opposed to iron based.. like us, which is why they have blue blood while we bleed red), and are a key component in the shore ecosystem.
Hope this judge is right…
Update: In case you were wondering, this harvesting the judge is referring to is not for medical purposes. From Horseshoe Crab.Org:
In shallow water, horseshoe crabs are collected by hand from a small boat using a clam rake, and the animals are not injured during this process. In deeper water, a dredge is used, and in this case, some horseshoe crabs do get injured. Injured crabs are released immediately and most will survive. It is quite common to find crabs with “scars” of old injuries that have healed.
Once the crabs are caught, they are transported to the laboratory from the fishing pier by truck. Sometimes a refrigerated truck is used, but as long as the animals are kept cool and dark during transport, they exhibit no adverse affects. During the bleeding process, up to 30% of the animal’s blood is removed. Research has shown that once returned to the water, the horseshoe crab’s blood volume rebounds in about a week.
It takes longer for the crab’s blood cell count to return to normal, about two to three months. Theoretically, crabs can be bled several times a year, but LAL manufacturers bleed them only once per year.
Studies done by the Associates of Cape Cod show that not only do the crabs survive one bleeding, but that they can be captured year after year to donate their life-saving blood-much like human blood donors. In addition, their studies indicate that crabs, which are bled and returned to their spawning area, will continue their breeding activity without any ill effect.
The companies that produce LAL go to great lengths to ensure that the animals used in the making this valuable, life-saving test are handled with care and respect. They recognize that a stable horseshoe crab population is vitally important not only to the biomedical community, but also to the survival of millions of shorebirds, sea turtles, and other marine creatures that have a symbiotic relationship with this remarkable creature. These companies will continue to support sound, scientifically-based conservation measures that will ensure a sustainable population for the future.
Interested in learning more? Some great sources of info:
