A U.S. court has ordered the state of Maryland to release data on horseshoe crab deaths in the state in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).
“This is good news for horseshoe crabs and the people of Maryland, who have a right to know how their government’s actions affect imperiled wildlife,” CBD Attorney William Snape said in a statement. “Once we finally get these biological records, we can better understand why this ancient species is still rapidly declining.”
Horseshoe crabs are largely harvested for their blood, which is highly valued by the pharmaceutical industry for its ability to clot when exposed to bacterial toxins in biomedical testing. Nearly 1 million crabs were bled in 2022, according to CBD.
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.-based wildlife conservation nonprofit CBD sued the state last year, demanding the Maryland Department of Natural Resources overturn data on how many horseshoe crabs are killed or injured by fishers annually – information it said is crucial to making sure the population is driven to extinction.
“This data can reveal the extent of overharvesting and help save horseshoe crabs from extinction,” CBD Senior Scientist Will Harlan said in a statement. “Complete information is critical for protecting these imperiled animals.”
On 20 March, Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County Associate Judge Robert Thompson ruled in favor of CBD, finding that the Maryland DNR failed to justify why the data should be kept confidential and ordering the state to release its data on horseshoe crab harvesting within 30 days.
CBD and others have pushed the pharmaceutical industry to stop relying on horseshoe crab blood, turning to increasingly available synthetic alternatives.
Last year, the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) published guidelines for synthetic replacements for medical use. In December 2024, CBD, the Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition, and Revive & Restore released an online scorecard tracking the 50 largest pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to switch to synthetic alternatives.
CBD was also one of 24 conservation groups that filed a petition to have horseshoe crabs protected under the Endangered Species Act.
