For those interested - here is the wording of the Horseshoe Crab bill - Rich
Rieger
HOUSE BILL NO. 435
Offered January 11, 2006
Prefiled January 6, 2006
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 28.2-203.2,
relating to a moratorium on horseshoe crabs.
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Patron-- Griffith
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Committee Referral Pending
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
28.2-203.2 as follows:
§ 28.2-203.2. Moratorium on horseshoe crabs.
A. There shall be a moratorium on landings and the importation of horseshoe
crabs (Limulus polyphemus) in Virginia until such time as (i) the population of
rufa subspecies of the Red Knot shorebird (Calidris canutus) reaches a
population level of 240,000 established in the United States Shorebird
Conservation
Plan of May 2001, and (ii) the population of horseshoe crabs returns to 1990
population levels as determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Such a
moratorium shall apply to landings and imports of horseshoe crabs from states
bordering on the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia to New York.
B. The Commission shall promulgate regulations establishing a moratorium on
horseshoe crab landing and imports consistent with the provisions in subsection
A. Horseshoe crabs landed for the biomedical industry shall be exempt from
the provisions of subsection A.
