Contact: Melinda Carl, Public Affairs, phone: (302) 739-9902
 

DNREC Orders Two-Year Moratorium on Horseshoe Crab Harvesting

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary John A. Hughes has ordered a two-year moratorium on the harvesting of horseshoe crabs in Delaware waters effective Dec. 11, 2006 as a protective measure for the horseshoe crab population and the migratory bird populations that depend on the resource for food.

The moratorium was imposed in an Order issued by Secretary Hughes this afternoon that approves a final regulation for horseshoe crabs beginning Jan. 1, 2007.

“The red knots are at risk and the only thing in the world we can do is to make certain that every egg from every female horseshoe crab that spawns on our beaches is fertilized,” said Secretary Hughes.

The decision is based upon a record, as stated in the Order, “that establishes the need to protect the horseshoe crabs, which are one of the world’s oldest species.” The record shows that horseshoe crab populations in the Delaware Estuary declined significantly in the 1990s in the Delaware Bay – the epicenter for horseshoe crabs – and therefore “Delaware and New Jersey together need to act to preserve and foster the environment for horseshoe crabs.”

Secretary Hughes emphasized the importance of establishing an alternative to the horseshoe crab as bait for eel and conch in his decision, and noted the Department’s $350,000 support for the University of Delaware’s College of Marine and Earth Studies’ three-year effort to establish an attractant as alternative bait for conch and eel. That effort, spearheaded by Dr. Nancy M. Targett, Dean, has been joined by DuPont.

“We are pleased to be volunteering our assistance to the University of Delaware to accelerate the development of a substitute that could replace the horseshoe crab as bait in the conch and eel fisheries. We are offering DuPont’s scientific capabilities to this challenging research project because it matches our own commitment to sustainable product development and is part of our ongoing support of the ecology of the Delaware estuary,” said Nick Fanandakis, vice president and general manager, DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise.

“This collaborative effort will make a considerable difference in the timeline for offering a remedy to the watermen,” said Secretary Hughes. “I’m hopeful that we may have something concrete by early June.”
 

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