March 20, 2024 — As the weather warms each year on Cape Cod, an ancient species older than dinosaurs crawls up just below the sandy shores to spawn. Then in the midst of their mass mating event, the unlucky ones are plucked up by fishermen and pharmaceutical companies alike: Horseshoe crabs as good for bait as they are for testing new vaccines using their bright blue blood.
But this year, horseshoe crabs in Massachusetts will return to uninhibited procreation. For the first time, the state will ban collecting the crabs during the animal’s spawning season.
Massachusetts’ protections for the crabs have long lagged behind other states with biomedical fisheries. The new ban will put Massachusetts on the other side of the spectrum with among the strictest regulations on horseshoe crab harvesting in the country. The controversial ban was approved Tuesday after a commission that represents the fishing industry gave its blessing; the regulation still awaits final approval by the governor, which is expected this spring.
The blood of horseshoe crabs, which are more similar to scorpions or spiders than crabs, is the main ingredient in an important pharmaceutical test to determine whether vaccines are safe to administer to humans. Their blood has been used to test vaccines for contamination since the 1970s because it naturally clots around harmful bacteria. An alternative synthetic test has been developed but has not yet been approved by US drug regulators for widespread use.