Public Meeting Set On Horseshoe Crab, Commercial Fishing

OLD LYME, CT — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is holding a public informational meeting Thursday to provide information on the current status of horseshoe crab and to gather input on potential changes to regulation of the commercial fishery for horseshoe crab.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Boating Education Classroom at DEEP Marine Headquarters, 333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme.

Atlantic coast fisheries for horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) are managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), an interstate fisheries management body comprised of equal representation from each Atlantic coast state.

In 2019, ASMFC completed a scientific assessment of various coastal horseshoe crab populations or “stocks”, and determined that the stock in the “New York” region (Connecticut, New York, and northern New Jersey) was in poor condition. In response to the New York region finding, the ASMFC Horseshoe Crab Management Board requested that Connecticut and New York take regulatory actions to constrain their respective horseshoe crab fisheries (New Jersey’s horseshoe crab fishery has been closed since 2008).

The Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa) is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Knots depend on the eggs of horseshoe crabs as an important food source on their 9300 mile trip from the southern tip of South America to their breeding grounds in the central Canadian Arctic. Red Knot populations in the U.S. were decimated in the 1800s by commercial hunting for sport and food. Knot hunting in the U.S. ended with passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, and historical writings show the birds largely recovered. But in the 20th century, coastal development and over-harvest of the horseshoe crab took a toll. Since about 2000 the Red Knot population passing through Delaware Bay in spring has declined 70-75%.

The Menunkatuck Audubon Society says it supports a "ban on the harvest of horseshoe crabs and taking strong measures to halt illegal horseshoe crab harvesting and will provide a statement expressing our position."