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Advocates press Legislature to ban horseshoe-crab harvest for bait; fishermen warn of economic harm
Summary
Conservation groups urged the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to pass H.898 to end the harvesting of horseshoe crabs for bait, saying the species is crucial to shorebirds and coastal ecosystems; commercial fishery representatives and a biomedical company warned a ban would harm livelihoods and medical test production.
Good afternoon. I'm Sam Anderson, director of legislative and government affairs at Mass Audubon, and I'm here to express our organization's strong support for House Bill 8 98, which would end the practice of harvesting horseshoe crabs for bait in Massachusetts.
Why it matters: conservationists said the Atlantic horseshoe crab underpins coastal food webs and supports long-distance migratory shorebirds such as the red knot. Dr. Nathan Senner, a shorebird biologist, told the committee that shorebirds undertake flights of thousands of miles and “the food resources in Massachusetts are critical for the success of not only a shorebird's next flight, but also their remaining migration and their breeding season.” He said horseshoe-crab eggs are “soft, easy to digest, and found in high densities” and therefore uniquely effective at refueling birds after long flights.
Mass Audubon and other conservation witnesses described biological and…
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