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

["Mike Wilson" <mdwils@xxxxxx>]

I can elaborate to answer your question Mary,

Population recruitment is the phenomena of new individuals entering the 
population.  Recruitment is a necessary event to maintain a population, 
since in a very basic sense, a population balance is equal to the number of 
births and immigrants minus deaths and emigration.  The term recruitment 
always seem strange to me since it gives the feel of an active gathering 
versus a passive settlement - but someone coined it along time ago and it 
stuck.  So I was using the term to ask whether or not maintenance of 
Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs population of was contingent on crabs born in 
Virginia migrating to Delaware or was the Delaware Bay population 
autonomous/self maintaining from their own breeding events.  Obviously the 
opposite could be true or the two populations may act as one.  There is an 
ever-growing realization that populations of some organisms are dependent on 
upon the sharing of individuals across large geographic scales.  I know very 
little about the biology of horseshoe crabs however so the original question 
may be wild eyed but I would not be surprised if their is some exchange of 
individuals based on their long life span, propensity for migration to and 
from the coast, and long time to reach sexual maturity.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Davis" <madanthony3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 3:49 PM
Subject: [va-richmond-general] Re: Horseshoe Crab Bill


> Wow.  Now those are interesting facts.  I'm not sure what population 
> recruitment means.  Could you elaborate?  I like your suggestion for 
> matching the moratoriums of other states.  Perhaps Audubon Societies in 
> the Tidewater/Central Virginia area could work with VMRC and other 
> organizations, with the aid of researchers, to craft a better bill next 
> year.
>
> Mary Davis
>
> PS - Thanks to Wendy as well for clarification of the proceedings and the 
> bill itself.  I knew people witnessing the proceedings could not speak up, 
> but was wondering if any legislators had asked.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mike Wilson <mdwils@xxxxxx>
> > Sent: Feb 8, 2006 1:01 PM
> > To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [va-richmond-general] Re: Horseshoe Crab Bill
> >
> > An important fact to know is that Red Knots do not forage on horseshoe 
> > crab
> > eggs in Virginia.  They are foraging on bivalves while here.  So the
> > horseshoe crab harvest in Virginia does not affect Red knots directly but 
> > I
> > do not know how the harvest impacts other species (including other birds),
> > horseshoe crabs, or the ecosystem at large.  It is also important to know
> > that while migratory populations of Red Knots have declined greatly in
> > Delaware Bay, the peak numbers during migration in Virginia have not 
> > changed
> > in 10 years.  So, aside from the impact on other species that may be
> > unknown, the biggest issue is that Virginia remains the loophole for
> > fisherman to harvest horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay and land them here.
> > The other unknown is the spatial extent of horseshoe crab population
> > dynamics.  Does Virginia play a role in population recruitment of crabs in
> > Delaware Bay?  I don't know the answer to that question but it obviously 
> > has
> > implications.  Perhaps a key element is to regulate the Virginia harvest 
> > and
> > landing and not impose a full moratorium on the harvest.  Although I have 
> > no
> > suggestion how that could be accomplished.
> >
> > Rather than attach a population target to the bill, as was done, a better
> > strategy may have been to have the bill simply follow the moratorium of 
> > the
> > states in Delaware Bay.  That is, Virginia maintains a moratorium until NJ
> > lifts their prohibition and so on.  I do not know how those states
> > moratoriums are written into law but that could be problematic as well.
> >
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