NEW JERSEY
IMPOSES EMERGENCY MORATORIUM ON HORSESHOE CRAB HARVEST
Two-Week Ban Will Allow
Late Shorebirds to Feed and
Allow for Data Review of Horseshoe Crab Population
(05/74) TRENTON -- New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell today announced
an emergency moratorium on the hand harvesting of horseshoe crabs
in New Jersey to allow late arriving shorebirds time to feed on
horseshoe crab eggs.
“The stunning decline in red knot numbers combined with
the late arrival of these shorebirds this year makes clear that
temporary emergency action is needed to protect these threatened
natural resources,” Commissioner Campbell said. “New
Jersey will do everything in our authority to halt the decline
of the red knot while protecting the horseshoe crab population
and fishery.”
The emergency two-week moratorium takes effect immediately and
temporarily halts New Jersey’s horseshoe crab harvest season,
which officially began yesterday. The season will reopen on June
23 and run through the normal closing date of August 15. Fishermen
will still be permitted to catch up to the maximum 150,000-crab
quota.
Surveys of the Delaware Bay noted the arrival this week of more
than 3,000 red knots – critically threatened shorebirds
that depend on horseshoe crab eggs to sustain their flights to
the Arctic. These birds arrived much later in the season than
usual. The temporary ban on horseshoe crab harvesting will allow
the birds unencumbered access to feed and to proceed on their
annual migration. The ban will also provide New Jersey time to
obtain and to review all available data on the status of the Delaware
Bay horseshoe crab population.
Delaware Bay’s beaches are the principal egg-laying grounds
for the world's largest concentration of horseshoe crabs, and
they attract the Western Hemisphere’s second largest spring
concentration of migrating shorebirds. Scientists this year have
noted the lowest concentration of horseshoe crab eggs ever on
the beaches – approximately 1,500 eggs per square meter
down from approximately 4,000 eggs per square meter just five
years ago. The red knot population in Delaware Bay has declined
from 95,000 in 1989 to around 15,000 in recent years.
New Jersey is calling for the emergency federal endangered species
listing of the red knot. New Jersey will also work with Delaware
to coordinate baywide efforts to protect the populations of red
knots and horseshoe crabs. The state is also examining the possibility
of providing some financial assistance to fishermen if harvests
continue to be limited in the future.
The emergency rulemaking was filed today after Acting Governor
Richard J. Codey certified the DEP’s Statement of Imminent
Peril.
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