NJAS Opinion: December 1, 2002

By Eric Stiles, Vice President for Conservation & Stewardship

There has never been a stronger case for conservation than shorebirds and horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay. Science shows both shorebirds and horseshoe crabs are in an ecological tail-spin. Economic analysis shows that horseshoe crabs are worth more alive than dead. Ecotourism on the Delaware Bay and non-lethal biomedical industry dwarfs the fisheries industry in dollars and number of jobs. In short, both scientific and economic analyses concur that we must immediately stop the harvest of horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay.

It is a rare moment (and a conservationists dream) when both the science and economics agree. Too often we hear the argument that environmental success stories come at the expense of jobs. The misnomer perpetuated by polluters and bad developers causes us never-ending angst. However, conservation of the mass shorebird migration and spawning horseshoe crabs can and should be a political "slam-dunk".

The Science - Nothing but Declines

Each May, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds descend upon the Delaware Bay where for up to 2 weeks they gorge themselves upon fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs. The Delaware Bay is the second largest concentration of shorebirds in North America and hosts the largest spawning population of horseshoe crabs in the world. Horseshoe crabs, at 350+ million years old species, are living fossils which have managed to emerge through mass extinctions as a living curiosity and a testament to survivorship. Despite their longevity, horseshoe crab and shorebirds survival is being threatened by the fisheries which harvest adult crabs as bait for eel and conk.

Research collected by world leading scientists overwhelmingly tells a tale of impending ecological disaster. Shorebird numbers and weight gain rate from species dependent on horseshoe crab eggs are declining rapidly. The number of Red Knots, a NJ state threatened shorebird, counted on their wintering grounds has dropped 51% in 2 years. Red Knots, who consume fat, muscle and organs en route to the Delaware Bay, need to gain 6.5 grams per day on average while on the Bay to fuel their long sojourn to Arctic breeding grounds. In 2002, Red Knots were only able to add 2.2 grams per day. At best many shorebirds in 2002 were unable to reach their breeding grounds and at worst many died in transit.

Horseshoe crab studies tell a similar tale. Delaware trawl survey data indicates that the number of adult crabs has declined 75% in 11 years. According to a 2001 stock assessment of Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs, by a conservative estimate the crabs were being harvested at a rate 4 times greater than could be sustained. The number of crab eggs available to foraging shorebirds has dropped significantly. Further, research has shown what any good birder can observe - shorebirds feed heavily on horseshoe crab eggs in May at the Delaware Bay. Based upon the declines in shorebirds and horseshoe crabs, researchers predict that the Red Knot population migrating through the Delaware Bay will be extinct by 2010.

The Economics - They're Worth More Alive than Dead

Dollars from the shorebird/horseshoe crab ecotourism industry and non-lethal biomedical industry dwarfs horseshoe crab dependent fisheries. A 2000 report to the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife valued the Delaware Bay ecotourism between $16 and 34 million annually. The report only valued ecotourism in New Jersey and did not quantify the flyway-wide ecotourism industry associated with shorebirds. As such, this figure severely underestimates the economics of shorebird-associated ecotourism in eastern North America.

Even this gross undervaluation of ecotourism is significantly greater than the entire eastern seaboard estimate for eel and conk fisheries, which use horseshoe crabs as bait. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service values the whole Atlantic coast industry at around $14 million. In 2001, the National Marine Fisheries Service valued the horseshoe crabs landed in NJ at $134,800 and Delaware at $182,502. Furthermore, marine fisheries biologists assert that viable alternatives exist as bait for eel and conk.

Human health is also at risk from the collapse of horseshoe crab populations. Each year, the biomedical industry bleeds 300,000 adult crabs; roughly 10% of bled individuals die. A blood derivative, known as Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL), is used to detect endotoxins in all injectable drugs (e.g. vaccines), medical implants, disease detection including spinal meningitis and stream and ocean toxins. No alternatives exist to LAL tests. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service valued the LAL industry at $150 million.

The combined dollar figures of ecotourism and the biomedical industry is orders of magnitude larger than the fisheries dependent on horseshoe crabs. Simply put, more dollars and jobs result from keeping the horseshoe crab alive!

The Slam-Dunk - a Tale of Synergy and Confusion

At this point, you may ask yourself so what's the problem. If the science and economics agree, then why are we still debating the issue? Clearly, horseshoe crab harvest should and must be halted immediately. The problem lies in two paths. First, marine fisheries councils which regulate commercial fisheries have an abysmal track record. Most major fisheries under their purview have collapsed. Furthermore, several members of the NJ Marine Fisheries Council have stated publicly that they don't care about "the birds" (May 2, 2002 - Galloway Township hearing). Bird watchers, ecotourism, the biomedical industry and shorebirds have no voice in this broken regulatory process.

The second obstacle is that no one wants to put marine fishermen (& women) out of work. However well intentioned this knee jerk response, we cannot allow sympathy for a handful of individuals to destroy our natural heritage and in reality even more jobs and threaten human health. NJ Audubon continues to support economic displacement packages.

In order to have a slam-dunk, someone needs to drive the ball to the net. We are asking Governors and their natural resource Commissioners in New Jersey and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region to take a leadership role in closing down this fishery before all is lost. Unless we take immediate action, horseshoe crabs will emerge, as stated by Pete Dunne, as "passenger pigeons on the half-shell" and the massive shorebird migration will exist only in stories of the past.