A new draft plan from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) would allow regulators to set a multi-year male-only harvest of Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs while the commission updates the computer model it uses to manage the species.
Horseshoe crabs are primarily harvested for their blood, which is used for biomedical testing by the pharmaceutical industry – although they are also used as bait.
The changes in the draft plan address problems caused by a flawed computer model which continues to recommend that regulators allow a limited harvest of female horseshoe crabs – a move that conservationists say would hurt shoredbirds like the red knot, a species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that depends on horseshoe crab eggs. The current model suggested a harvest of 175,000 female crabs in 2025, although the commission ultimately listened to the concerns raised by conservation groups and maintained the decade-old ban on a female harvest.
“The commission made the right decision by declining to allow a bait harvest of female horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay next year,” Earthjustice Biodiversity Defense Program Senior Attorney Ben Levitan said at the time. “This decision …
