Horseshoe crabs get protection under the law

Measure bans harvesting to give species time to rebuild its numbers

— Experts say a new law signed by Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday represents hope for the state’s dwindling horseshoe crab population.

The law, which was unanimously approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, bans horseshoe crab harvesting in the state.

“By implementing a ban on the harvesting of horseshoe crabs from Connecticut waters, we are not only safeguarding these prehistoric creatures, but also ensuring the preservation of our marine ecosystems. This step forward will benefit current and future generations,” said state Rep. Joe Gresko D-Stratford, who spearheaded the legislation in a statement.

“This law says that we need to take a break and let this species regenerate and get back to a state of good health. I strongly urge our neighboring states to join this growing coalition and enact similar laws to protect the population in their waters,” Lamont said.

The conservation status of the crabs, which have remained virtually unchanged for the last 200 million years, is labeled poor by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission due to its dwindling numbers.

“They’ve been around for all these millions of years, and all of a sudden now, it’s our interference that has caused their disappearance,” said Beth

Sullivan, town chairwoman for the Avalonia Nature Conservancy’s Stonington Town Committee, on Thursday.

The animals, which are more closely related to spiders than crabs, are harvested locally as bait for eels and conch, but worldwide, they are sought for their blue blood.

The biomedical industry uses the blood to detect endotoxins, a type of bacteria, in humans, medications, and medical equipment like intravenous devices.

Sullivan said that despite a great deal of work, science has not found a viable synthetic replacement.

She said that in the past, when volunteers would go out to areas in Stonington such as Lord’s Point and Latimer Point to tag the prehistoric creatures, there would be hundreds of them, but recent years have seen a change.

“The numbers have diminished really terribly. On a night that would be considered a perfect night, we would be lucky if we got 10 or 12,” Sullivan said.

Tessa Stuart, director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center’s Neighbors and Nature program and an environmental educator, explained that horseshoe crabs take approximately 10 years to reach sexual maturity, and until that time, they stay in deep waters. Harvesters, who generally catch the crabs closer to the shoreline, end up taking the breeding population which lay their eggs on shore.

“They’ve been around for all these millions of years, and all of a sudden now, it’s our interference that has caused their disappearance.”

BETH SULLIVAN, TOWN CHAIRWOMAN

FOR AVALONIA NATURE CONSERVANCY’S STONINGTON TOWN COMMITTEE

She also explained that horseshoe crabs are a vital part of shoreline ecology as well as the food chain as they keep clam and algae populations in check and are a vital food source.

Stuart said that although a female can lay tens of thousands of eggs during a May through June nesting season, only a small portion of those eggs will survive due to birds such as the endangered piping plover, that rely on the eggs as an incredibly dense source of nutrition.

The new law goes into effect Oct. 1 and does make an exception for educational and scientific harvesting with a permit from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.