For one thing, houseshoe crabs are found in a lot of other places. I've seen them at places on the Atlantic coast as far north as Cape Cod, and in Eastern Bay on the upper Chesapeake, and likely all up and down the coast. But the impact on the Red Knots is mostly in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. Another factor is that a species is being threatened over a very short time, and when a case can be made that is convincing enough, it should have more chance of passing than trying to prevent harvest against the wishes of the Whelk fishing lobby with nothing else to connect it. Besides, the sponser of the bill is an avid birder. At least some other legislators know and respect that fact; I discovered that on Lobby Day while talking to several delegates / senators and their aids. Al Warfield ----- Original Message ----- From: Heron329@xxxxxxx To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 6:24 AM Subject: [va-richmond-general] Re: Fwd: [va-bird] Red Knot Article Well, the bill puts a moratorium on harvesting the horseshoe crabs. The idea of the bill is to protect the crabs, which will in turn protect the Red Knots. Margaret