UPDATE ARCHIVES
UPDATE: Conservation Coalition
Hits a Home Run on March 10, 2004 to Help Secure the Conservation of
Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs
The Delaware Bay hosts the second highest concentration of
shorebirds in North American. Each spring up to 1 million
individuals of 9 species stop on the Delaware Bayshore to gorge
themselves on fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs.
On Wednesday, March 10, 2004, NJ Audubon's campaign to
conserve shorebirds and horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay set
national history. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission adopted national marine policy which achieved the
following conservation measures:
1. Lowered Horseshoe Crab Quotas in 4 states - 643,000
fewer crabs will now be caught than in 2002!!
a. NJ from 293,000 to 150,000
b. DE from 361,000 to 150,000
c. MD from 230,000 to 170,000
d. NY (voluntarily) from 366,000 to 150,000
2. Restricted harvest of crabs in NJ and DE from May 1 to
June 7. This will ensure increased presence of spawning
crabs during spring shorebird stopover.
3. Encourages states to reuse crabs caught for biomedical
purposes to be resold as bait and counting towards the state's
quota. Since ~10% of all bled crabs die, reusing them for
bait will reduce total mortality (bait + biomedical).
NJ Audubon Society started this campaign nearly 2 decades.
Our most recent efforts launched in 2002 have resulted in
strong, conservation-minded fisheries policies in the states of
NJ and DE and most recently at the national level. This is the
first time that a non-marine suite of species (shorebirds) has
driven marine fisheries policy. This has been hearkened as a
watershed moment where the insular marine fish councils are now
expanding their visions to include conservation of non-marine
species.
NJ Audubon's effort has included playing a leadership role
among a strong and diverse coalition including American Littoral
Society, Delaware Riverkeeper, Sierra Club, National Audubon
Society (national, state and chapters), American Bird
Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, Citizens for the Environment
and several state/regional ornithological societies.
Commissioner Campbell (NJDEP) and Secretary Hughes (DE
Natural Resources) deserve much credit for playing a national
leadership role on this issue
NJ Audubon's future efforts will include seeking federal
listing for the Red Knot Atlantic Flyway (rufa subspecies)
population and support for biomedical reforms and DE Bay
spawning beach restoration.
Two recent publications have highlighted the plight of Red
Knots:
1. In a recent publication in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society of London (2004), Dr. Baker et al. made the following
findings and conclusion, "From 1997-2002 known survivors in
Delaware Bay were heavier at initial capture than birds never
seen again, annual survival of adults decreased by 37% between
May 2000 and May 2001, and the number of second year birds in
wintering flocks declined 47%... Population size in Tierra del
Fuego declined alarmingly from 53,000 to 27,000 in 2000-2002,
seriously threatening the viability of this subspecies.
Demographic modelling predicts imminent endangerment and an
increased risk of extinction of the subspecies without urgent
risk-averse management."
2. Similarly, Dr. Morrison et al. (2004) reported in Condor
that "Surveys of the North American race of the Red Knot (Calidris
canutus rufa) on its main wintering areas on the coasts of
Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina and Chile) showed a
dramatic decline in the wintering population: totals in 2003
were about 30 000 compared to 67 500 in the mid-1980s. Numbers
at the principal wintering site, Bahia Lomas, fell by
approximately 50%, from 45 300 in 2000 to 22 000-25 000 in
2002-2003. Numbers at peripheral sites on the coast of
Patagonia declined dramatically, decreasing 98% compared to
numbers in the mid-1980s? Possible reasons for the declines are
discussed. Banding studies in Delaware Bay have shown that in
recent years an increasing proportion of Red Knots is unable to
gain sufficient weight for migration to the breeding grounds.
This is likely due to reductions in their main food resource,
eggs of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus. The resulting
increase in mortality could account for the magnitude and
severity of the declines we observed."
An Update: September, 2003
Over a decade ago, New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS)
responded to declining shorebird numbers on the Delaware
Bayshore by initiating a conservation and research campaign. In
fall 2002, research from the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame
Species Program and NJAS showed alarming decreases in shorebird
numbers and weight gain rates, especially in the state-listed
threatened Red Knot. This alarming trend was linked to
overharvest of horseshoe crabs for use as bait.
In response, New Jersey Audubon and its conservation
partners, including the American Littoral Society, Delaware
Riverkeeper Network, and the Sierra Club, launched an initiative
to halt the harvest of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay. We have
since won a series of victories for horseshoe crabs and the
shorebirds that depend on them.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of New Jersey Audubon,
its members, and its partners, the states of New Jersey and
Delaware have instituted more conservation-minded rules
regarding horseshoe crab harvesting. In April 2003, New Jersey
and Delaware established emergency regulations more protective
of crab and shorebird populations. The Delaware regulations
were stayed by a judge on procedural grounds. Protections were
strengthened in August, when both states instituted rigorous
permanent restrictions on the harvest of horseshoe crabs.
In both New Jersey and Delaware, statewide annual harvest
limits have been reduced to 150,000 horseshoe crabs, harvests
are being closely monitored, and a ban on the taking of
horseshoe crabs from May 1 through June 7 has been established.
The regulations also require the use of bait-saving which reduce
consumption of horseshoe crabs, and restrict access to beaches
important to horseshoe crabs and shorebirds during peak spawning
season.
The good news extends beyond New Jersey and Delaware. The
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, composed of the
fifteen Atlantic coast states, is also in the process of
tightening restrictions on horseshoe crab harvesting in all
member states. Our coalition has begun laying the foundation
for possible listing of the Red Knot rufa subspecies as
federally endangered.
Though the new rules are a step in the right direction, NJAS
continues to advocate for even stronger regulations. Given the
severity of the population decline, a complete moratorium on
horseshoe crab harvesting is necessary until a sound management
plan is completed. This is a critical time for Delaware Bay's
horseshoe crabs and shorebirds, and these new measures are
important, but not sufficient, steps toward saving the
shorebirds.
Eric Stiles
Vice President for Conservation & Stewardship
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