Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Horseshoe crab populations hit record highs in Cape Cod waters after decades of protection

July 31, 2026 — Horseshoe crab populations in Massachusetts waters are reaching record highs, a sustained rebound that marine biologists attribute to decades of strict harvesting limits and expansive spawning protections.

According to July report from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), data from three distinct surveying methods show significant increases in the species’ abundance, reversing a downward trend that persisted until roughly 2010.

The decline that preceded the recovery alarmed wildlife managers because horseshoe crabs play a critical role in both the coastal ecosystem and modern medicine. According to Cape Cod National Seashore, the animals are harvested for bait in eel and whelk fisheries, while their blue blood is used to produce Limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance used to detect bacterial contamination in injectable drugs, vaccines and implantable medical devices.

Read the full article at MassLive

RHODE ISLAND: Shifting Tides: Horseshoe Crab Population Shows Mixed Trends Across Rhode Island Waters

June 26, 2026 — Tag No. 445308 surfaced once again at Napatree Point as a group of 14 surveyors headed back to their cars.

“This one has been out here for a couple of years now,” one surveyor said.

The 7-inch male horseshoe crab had been tagged on its right side at Napatree in 2020 on behalf of Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the horseshoe crab cooperative tagging program.

One volunteer who had never seen a horseshoe crab before watched 547 of them crawl along the shoreline June 12 during the survey with the Watch Hill Conservancy, which has tracked the population for 20 years.

Surveys take place during the full and new moons each late spring and early summer when the crabs come ashore to lay eggs. The data helps the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management track populations that have declined along the Atlantic Coast after decades of harvest pressure.

Debates remain about how much protection the species still needs in neighboring states and at the federal level. DEM is taking a measured approach by weighing whether additional rule changes are necessary, as survey data show a mixed picture of abundance.

“Our job as managers is to balance the multiple needs while ensuring that the population is sustainable,” DEM principal marine biologist Katie Rodrigue said.

Read the full article at ecoRI News

MARYLAND: Ancient horseshoe crab migration returns to Maryland shores

May 22, 2026 — Thousands of horseshoe crabs have begun arriving along Maryland’s beaches as part of the oldest wildlife migrations on Earth, a phenomenon scientists say dates back roughly 350 million years.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the annual spawning season for the species stretches from May through July and peaks during high tides surrounding the full and new moons in June.

In 2026, the best viewing opportunities are expected around June 15 and June 29. Popular viewing locations include Sunset Park near the Ocean City Inlet and several Chesapeake Bay spawning beaches identified on the department’s Horseshoe Crab Volunteer Angler Survey.

Read the full article at Fox Baltimore

MARYLAND: Eastern Shore seafood companies say potential crab import bans could threaten jobs, supply chains

May 7, 2026 — A coalition of seafood companies including several local businesses filed a federal lawsuit challenging new federal seafood import restrictions that they say could devastate crab processing operations on the Eastern Shore and disrupt the nation’s crab supply chain.

While the companies have been successful in delaying those restrictions, the federal government could reintroduce them this month.

The original lawsuit, acquired by WBOC, was filed in October of 2025 in the United States Court of International Trade by the National Fisheries Institute, Restaurant Law Center, and several seafood importers and processors. Those businesses included Baltimore-based Phillips Foods and Salisbury-based Handy Seafood, Cebu Pacific LLC, and Byrd International Inc.

Read the full article at WBOC

Center for Biological Diversity to sue NOAA Fisheries over horseshoe crab decision

March 25, 2026 —  The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has notified NOAA Fisheries of its intent to sue the agency after it denied a petition to list horseshoe crabs under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Horseshoe crabs watched the dinosaurs come and go, but now they face their greatest threat yet: us,” CBD Senior Attorney Danny Waltz said in a release. “Fortunately, we also have the power to save horseshoe crabs by protecting them under the Endangered Species Act.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Feds deny ESA protections for crabs with blood used by humans

February 20, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has denied Endangered Species Act protections for the Atlantic horseshoe crab, a lumbering species whose unique blood is highly valued by the biomedical industry.

Faced with two petitions that urged designating the species as either threatened or endangered, the federal agency instead concluded no ESA listing was warranted.

“There has been improvement in the population status and trends of regional populations from New Hampshire to Florida-Atlantic, with the exception of New York,” NOAA Fisheries announced this week, adding that “the petitions rely on obsolete and incorrect information to infer the current status and trends of the species.”

Read the full article at E&E News

NEW YORK: New York to Phase In Protections for Horseshoe Crabs

January 2, 2025 — New York State will phase out the catch of horseshoe crabs in its waters for bait and biomedical use over the next four years, beginning in 2026.

Although supporters of the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act had urged an immediate ban, Gov. Kathy Hochul obtained the agreement of legislative leaders to reduce the catch by increments, leading to a total prohibition in 2029.

She said she had vetoed the bill a year ago because the earlier bill would not have given the fishing industry enough time to adapt.

The allowed catch, to be managed by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, will be reduced by 25 percent in 2026, 50 percent in 2027 and 75 percent in 2028 until the full ban goes into effect the next year.

Read the full article at The New York Times

ASMFC Schedules Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Management Stakeholder Workshop for January 29 & 30

December 22, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board is holding a stakeholder workshop January 29-30, 2026, in theSpinnaker Room at the Courtyard by Marriott Ocean City Oceanfront, Two 15th Street, Ocean City, Maryland. The workshop is the central event in an ongoing stakeholder engagement process to inform revisions to the Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework. The process is being facilitated by Compass Resource Management with the goal of identifying stakeholder values and perspectives in order to develop clear, actionable recommendations for revising core functions of the ARM Framework that reflect stakeholder priorities.

The ARM Framework is a model used to set annual harvest levels for horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay region. It is designed to balance the needs of the horseshoe crab fishery with the ecological needs of migratory shorebirds, particularly the rufa red knot, which depends on horseshoe crab eggs as a food source. Within the ARM Framework, three mathematical functions—the Utility, Reward, and Harvest Policy (U/R/H) functions—serve to align the model with the values and interests of stakeholders. 

The purpose of the two-day values workshop is to develop quantitative values representing the interests of stakeholder groups for integration into the model as well as consensus recommendations for model updates. Fourteen individuals were selected to participate, representing a broad range of stakeholder perspectives, including commercial harvesters and dealers; biomedical industry representatives; and horseshoe crab, shorebird, and ecosystem conservationists.

A detailed meeting agenda will be posted here ahead of the workshop. Interested parties are welcome to attend the workshop as observers, but space is limited so please notify Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org by January 16, 2026 if you plan to attend. For more information on the Commission and horseshoe crab management, please contact Caitlin Starks atcstarks@asmfc.orgor visit https://asmfc.org.

 The press release can also be found at https://asmfc.org/news/press-releases/asmfc-schedules-delaware-bay-horseshoe-crab-management-stakeholder-workshop-for-january-29-30-2026/