On Tuesday August 8, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Norman Y. Mineta came to Delaware Bay at Cape Henlopen State Park to announce that an 1,800-square-mile Horseshoe Crab sanctuary would be established in an arc 30 miles out from the mouth of the Delaware Bay.
This area will be closed to all take of Horseshoe Crabs. The Secretary also announced that unless Virginia acts to implement the reduction ordered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and cut take and landings to 152,000 crabs, he will close all Virginia's harvest and landings of Horseshoe Crabs. Virginia's open defiance of the ASMFC plan for conservation of the horseshoe crab has been undermining the conservation efforts of NJ, MD and DE. Vessels from NJ and VA have been traveling to Federal waters beyond the three mile limit of State jurisdiction off NJ, MD, and VA, trawling out hundreds of thousands of Horseshoe Crabs, and landing them in Virginia. This has been decimating the breeding population in the Bay, and enabling boats to avoid the regulations and landing quotas set by the other states to protect the crabs. Last month, Virginia voluntarily reduced their landing quota by 50% from the artificially high 710,000 originally set for 2,000, but this still would allow an unacceptably large number of crabs to be landed there.
VA alone opposed the sanctuary which was supported by 14 other states on the ASMFC. The sanctuary will allow a good number of juvenile and adult Horseshoe Crabs to return to the ocean waters after spawning and be free from the trawlers and dredgers pursuing them.
Horseshoe Crab eggs form a vital service for migrating shorebirds; these birds travel through the mid-Atlantic states and feast on the eggs to re-fuel at essential stop-off sites on their long journey between South American wintering areas and nesting ground in the Arctic. (For example, Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Sanderlings, and many other species gobble up tons of eggs each spring in the Delaware Bay region alone.)
The problem inherent in over-harvesting is not only affecting crabs and birds. A recent study by Fermata, Inc. showed that the ecotourism industry based around shorebird/Horseshoe Crab interactions along the New Jersey coast of Delaware Bay alone, was worth more to local businesses than the entire east coast horseshoe crab fishery. Both the U.S. Government's proposal for the sanctuary and the VA closure are expected to take effect in October.
Many bird-oriented organizations have worked on Horseshoe Crab conservation efforts for a number of years; spokespersons for ABC indicated that these organizations will need to continue to assure the protection of this ancient mariner, the shorebirds dependent on its eggs, and the whole web of life entwined with the Horseshoe Crab. -----------