FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Re: Horseshoe Crab Bill

[Heron329@xxxxxxx]

The reason for the bill's failure was that the watermen that use the 
horseshoe crabs as bait for conch and eels were there in force, and their 
spokesmen 
made excellent presentations.   It came down, in the end, to a choice between 
the watermen's jobs and the horseshoe crabs and the Red Knot.   The crabs and 
the birds lost to the jobs.

There was testimony given about research being done to find another source of 
bait for the traps.   Nothing seems to work as well as the horseshoe crabs, 
and the best bait is from the females with eggs.   When the crabs are all gone, 
I suppose they will turn to something else then.   

Horseshoe crabs take 8 to 10 years to become sexually mature, so even if the 
harvesting of them was stopped immediately, recovery would take years.   The 
really sad thing is that other birds, sea turtles, and some species of fish 
also eat the fat rich eggs.   The Red Knot is just the most visible victim of 
the 
Horseshoe crab's overharvesting.   The true impact has yet to emerge.

Margaret O'Bryan