Horseshoe Crab Management
For many years no one cared very
much how many horseshoe crabs people were taken from the bay. However,
in recent years some people have become very concerned that the number
of horseshoe crabs is declining. As Tom O'Connell of MD DNR Fisheries Service
states, "A resource once ignored is now a unique and complicated management
issue."
Who owns the horseshoe crabs?
Who should manage the crabs - the states or the federal government? How
many crabs can be safely removed while keeping the population healthy?
Or how many crabs can be safely removed while keeping the population healthy,
but yet economic, social, and ecological factors are considered?
These are not biological decisions, but political, social, and economic
decisions.
Before 1990 there were no horseshoe
crab management plans. Then in the early 1990's Delaware and New Jersey
each developed their own plans. In 1996 Maryland also developed a plan.
However, coordinated coastwide management did not begin until the
fall of 1997 when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)
voted to begin a horseshoe crab management program.
photo permission: Michael Oates
(The Atlantic Coast Marine Fisheries Commission, which was
formed by the fifteen Atlantic coast states in 1942, coordinates fisheries
management for multi-state resources and oversees the development of fishery
management plans within state and federal waters.) Technical and stock
assessment committees were appointed. People in the interested groups were
named to an advisory panel, and a management board was selected. Their
first job was to find out how many horseshoe crabs there were. Counting
the crabs that come to shore to lay eggs, counting the eggs, trawl surveys,
and harvest data were all examined. Then the technical committee and the
advisory panel recommended to the ASMFC that coastwide landings (the amount
of crabs people take) be limited at 25% below the 1995-1997 harvest levels.
The management board, however, rejected their recommendation. It said there
was a lack of consistent sampling data, harvest information was missing
or incomplete, and there was a lack of coordination between the states.
Up until the ASMFC got involved, states were responsible for doing their
own monitoring and much of their data was of variable quality and quantity.
Instead, the board approved a management plan that required improved monitoring
programs be established, and that NJ, DE, and MD should keep their current
harvest restrictions. They also agreed to establish a coastwide limit in
2000. States were supposed to meet these requirements by April 1999. However,
that did not happen. The deadline was extended to June and then to September.
Several states said they were still unable to begin the required reporting.
Monitoring horseshoe crab populations
is not easy. There are only a few weeks each year when spawning crabs,
the crabs laying eggs, can be found on the beaches, and there are hundreds
of miles of beaches. Moreover, where they land each year changes depending
on the weather and other factors. Also, just counting spawning crabs gives
you no data about the number of the immature crabs that are less than 9-10
years old. People from state and federal agencies and local universities
have been trying to put together sampling plans that include sampling distribution
and sampling magnitude. In addition, they are training and expanding a
group of volunteers to take part in annual spawning surveys.
Also, as part of the management
plan in 1999, biomedical companies are required to participate in a tagging
program and to estimate how many crabs die
from the bleeding process. At least one biomedical company
has volunteered to collect demographic data, including size, sex, and approximate
age, on the crabs it collects for its bleeding programs. This information
about sex and approximate age distributions over time will be valuable
to the people designing a management program.
In February 2000 the Management
Board again met to discuss the management of horseshoe crabs, even though
they still didn't have a lot of scientific data. At that time it was decided
that by May 1, 2000 the states would be required to establish a limit at
25% below their 1995-1997 harvest levels; NJ and MD were encouraged to
maintain existing harvest restrictions (50 and 75% reduction); and a horseshoe
crab sanctuary would be established in federal waters at the mouth of the
Delaware Bay. Virginia then said it was unable to establish the required
limit of 150,000 crabs and would maintain its existing limit of 710,000
crabs. As of June 2000 the questions were: Will VA be found out-of-compliance?
Will action be taken by the Secretary of Commerce? Will ASMFC deduct overages
and the VA fishery shut down for 3-4 years? Will VA then file suit?
On August 21, 2000 the ASMFC
met. At that meeting the National Marine Fisheries Service agreed with
the ASMFC that Virginia was not following the horseshoe crab managment
plan, and it was prepared to place a moratorium on the possession of horseshoe
crabs in Virginia in mid-September 2000. In response, representatives from
VA reported that the state had approved the requirement of bait bags by
conch fishermen. They said this should reduce the amount of horeshoe crabs
used by half and reduce the number of crabs from 710,000 to 355,000. This
would mean the 25% reduction for the entire coast would be met considering
DE and MD's reductions, and they asked that VA be allowed to increase their
quota. The board voted against this idea.
Also, at this meeting it was
announced that a horseshoe crab sanctuary would be established in a 30
nautical mile radius from the mouth of the Delaware Bay. In addition, the
NMFS stated it was moving forward with the ASMFC recommendation to prohibit
the at sea transfer of horseshoe crabs in federal waters.
Then in the middle of October
2000, federal officials ordered Virginia watermen to stop harvesting horseshoe
crabs in state waters because Virginia state officials had failed to meet
catch limits set earlier by the ASMFC. They said fishermen could still
catch the crabs and use them in federal waters, but not in state waters
after October 18. When faced with this order that would close a multimillion
dollar fishery, on October 16 Virginia finally made a deal with the ASMFC.
The 15 state commission agreed to allow states to give their unused quota
of crabs to Virginia, and Virginia, in return, would accept a landing limit
of 152,495 crabs. Up to that time Virginia had already harvested 355,000
crabs in the year 2000.
The issues of how many crabs
should be harvested, who gets them, and who makes and enforces the decisions
have yet to to resolved.
Most of the above information was taken from a presentation to educators
in June 2000 by Tom O'Connell, MD DNR Fisheries Service; ASMFC HSC FMP
coordinator and from articles in the News Journal paper.
There is an excellent video "Dollars on the Beach" that deals with
the management of horseshoe crabs available for $19.95 from Berkana, P.O.
Box 41005, Bethesda, MD 20824-1005.
For more information about management issues on the internet
you may visit:
http://www.state.de.us/facts/outdoor/horecrab.htm
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/education/horseshoe/horseshoefacts.html
http://ael.er.usgs.gov/groups/stats/Limulus
http://pages.prodigy.com/delaud/hc1.htm
http://www.seagrantnews.org/news/19990526_horseshoe.html
http://biology.usgs.gov/pr/newsrelease/1999/6-8a.html
http://freenet.vcu.edu/science/audubon/webalert.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/05/990528003542.htm
http://www.fisheries.org/Meetings/Recent_AFS_Annual_Mtgs/annual99/program/tuesymposia1.htm
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