August 26, 2023 — One of the great delights of summer on the New England shore is catching sight in shallow waters of the humble horseshoe crab. Ancient and mysterious, these creatures are precious beyond their eerie beauty because their blood is essential to testing the safety of vaccines and medical equipment, and their nutrient-rich eggs provide food for endangered shorebirds such as the red knot.
But the horseshoe crab, surviving for at least 450 million years, is today imperiled by exploitation, both from commercial biomedical firms and from eel and whelk fishermen who use them for bait. Although scattered populations have rebounded, some — including the American horseshoe crab — are listed as endangered or vulnerable to extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species.
Last month, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries issued new regulations for horseshoe crab harvesting, including the first biomedical quota of 200,000 crabs. The state also lowered the cap on harvesting for bait, to 140,000 crabs per season. Government wildlife managers seek to balance the needs of various constituencies, including commercial interests, against the conservation of critical species. But given their essential role both in human health and coastal biodiversity, you have to ask why the state allows the taking of any horseshoe crabs for bait.