Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator JEAN STANFIELD
District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to continue prohibiting harvest of female horseshoe crabs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to continue prohibiting the harvest of female horseshoe crabs.
Whereas, Since 2013, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), has managed the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) population in the Delaware Bay, under a model which prohibits the harvest of females under certain population thresholds; and
Whereas, In January 2022, the ASMFC approved a new model that may allow for the harvesting of female horseshoe crabs; and
Whereas, The new model appears to depart from the conservative approach agreed upon by the stakeholders who helped formulate the original model, and the new model may overestimate the population of horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay; and
Whereas, Female horseshoe crab survival is critical to the success of the whole population, and males typically far outnumber them, with recent data from the Delaware Bay showing that there are three to five males for every one female; and
Whereas, Horseshoe crabs are an important part of the Delaware Bay ecosystem, as six species, including the rufa red knot, ruddy turnstone, sanderling, semipalmated sandpiper, short-billed dowitcher, and dunlin, stop at Delaware Bay beaches and feed upon horseshoe crab eggs; and
Whereas, Horseshoe crab eggs are an essential food source for the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa), a shorebird which is designated as "threatened" under the United States Endangered Species Act, and which relies upon this essential food source in the Delaware Bay in order to gain sufficient weight to continue its migration north to breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, survive until food becomes available, and successfully reproduce; and
Whereas, Horseshoe crabs are mainly harvested for use as bait by eel and whelk fisherman, but alternative forms of bait exist, including native fish, blue crabs, and shellfish such as the invasive green crab; and
Whereas, The horseshoe crab population of the Delaware Bay has experienced an increase in population since 1988, but still falls far short of its historical size; and
Whereas, Climate change may place additional pressures on animal species in the coming years, warranting a conservative approach to setting the harvest quota for any species; and
Whereas,
Although P.L.2008, c.1 (C.23:2B-20 et seq.) places a moratorium on the taking
of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs in New Jersey, except for
scientific purposes, a decision by the ASMFC to allow the harvest of female
horseshoe crabs may decrease the population of horseshoe crabs and rufa red
knots throughout the entire Delaware Bay, including in this State; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This Houses urges the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to continue prohibiting the harvest of female horseshoe crabs, except for scientific purposes, and to make any modifications to its population models that are necessary to achieve this.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council, and every member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation.
STATEMENT
This resolution would urge the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to continue prohibiting the harvest of female horseshoe crabs, except for scientific purposes.