Please help us urge Governor Hochul to sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act into law
In June, the NY State Senate and Assembly passed legislation to prohibit the taking of horseshoe crabs for commercial and biomedical purposes (S.3185/A.10140). Now all we need is for Governor Hochul to sign this bill into law.
Here's how you can help:
Click here for a sample letter to send to Governor Hochul
Click here for printable postcards to send to Governor Hochul
Call Governor Hochul at (518)-474-8390
Click here for a sample letter to send to Governor Hochul
Click here for printable postcards to send to Governor Hochul
Call Governor Hochul at (518)-474-8390
Horseshoe crabs have existed for 450 million years. That’s 200 million years older than dinosaurs! There are four extant species of horseshoe crabs and they are more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs. They have ten eyes and copper-based blue blood.
Horseshoe crabs are a keystone species and an important part of our marine ecosystem. For half a century humans gave depended on them for our survival. Their special blue blood is used to detect infection-causing bacteria in injectable drugs, intravenous solutions, vaccines and surgical implants used in modern medicine.
Luckily a new synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood is being integrated (albeit at a slow pace) into the biomedical industry, but horseshoe crabs are still harvested for use as bait in commercial eel and conch fisheries.
Atlantic horseshoe crab numbers have been steadily declining. The two most recent stock assessments show NY populations as being in “poor” status, with lower numbers than any other state on the east coast.
The decline in populations is mostly due to harvesting them to use as bait but they are also losing their spawning grounds due to sea level rise and shoreline hardening (seawalls and bulkheads).
Horseshoe crabs are a keystone species and an important part of our marine ecosystem. For half a century humans gave depended on them for our survival. Their special blue blood is used to detect infection-causing bacteria in injectable drugs, intravenous solutions, vaccines and surgical implants used in modern medicine.
Luckily a new synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood is being integrated (albeit at a slow pace) into the biomedical industry, but horseshoe crabs are still harvested for use as bait in commercial eel and conch fisheries.
Atlantic horseshoe crab numbers have been steadily declining. The two most recent stock assessments show NY populations as being in “poor” status, with lower numbers than any other state on the east coast.
The decline in populations is mostly due to harvesting them to use as bait but they are also losing their spawning grounds due to sea level rise and shoreline hardening (seawalls and bulkheads).
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