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Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crab Conservation: The Alignment of Science and Dollars
by By Eric Stiles, Vice President for Conservation & Stewardship
New Jersey
Audubon Society
NJAS Opinion: December 1, 2002
There has never been a stronger case for conservation
than shorebirds and horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay.
Science shows both shorebirds and horseshoe crabs are
in an ecological tailspin. Economic analysis shows that
horseshoe crabs are worth more alive than dead. Ecotourism
on the Delaware Bay and non-lethal biomedical industry
dwarfs the fisheries industry in dollars and number of
jobs. In short, both scientific and economic analyses
concur that we must immediately stop the harvest of horseshoe
crabs on the Delaware Bay.
It is a rare moment (and a conservationist's dream) when
both the science and economics agree. Too often we hear
the argument that environmental success stories come at
the expense of jobs. The misnomer perpetuated by polluters
and bad developers causes us never-ending angst. However,
conservation of the mass shorebird migration and spawning
horseshoe crabs can and should be a political "slam-dunk."
The Science — Nothing but
Declines
Each May, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds descend
upon the Delaware Bay where for up to 2 weeks they gorge
themselves upon fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs. The Delaware
Bay is the second largest concentration of shorebirds
in North America and hosts the largest spawning population
of horseshoe crabs in the world. Horseshoe crabs, at 350+
million years old species, are living fossils which have
managed to emerge through mass extinctions as a living
curiosity and a testament to survivorship. Despite their
longevity, horseshoe crab and shorebirds survival is being
threatened by the fisheries which harvest adult crabs
as bait for eel and conch.
Research collected by world leading scientists overwhelmingly
tells a tale of impending ecological disaster. Shorebird
numbers and weight gain rate from species dependent on
horseshoe crab eggs are declining rapidly. The number
of Red Knots, a NJ state threatened shorebird, counted
on their wintering grounds, has dropped 51% in 2 years.
Red Knots, which consume fat, muscle and organs en route
to the Delaware Bay, need to gain 6.5 grams per day on
average while on the Bay to fuel their long sojourn to
Arctic breeding grounds. In 2002, Red Knots were only
able to add 2.2 grams per day. At best many shorebirds
in 2002 were unable to reach their breeding grounds, and
at worst many died in transit.
Horseshoe crab studies tell a similar tale. Delaware trawl
survey data indicates that the number of adult crabs has
declined 75% in 11 years. According to a 2001 stock assessment
of Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs, by a conservative estimate
the crabs were being harvested at a rate 4 times greater
than could be sustained. The number of crab eggs available
to foraging shorebirds has dropped significantly. Further,
research has shown what any good birder can observe -
shorebirds feed heavily on horseshoe crab eggs in May
at the Delaware Bay. Based upon the declines in shorebirds
and horseshoe crabs, researchers predict that the Red
Knot population migrating through the Delaware Bay will
be extinct by 2010.
The Economics — They're
Worth More Alive than Dead
Dollars from the shorebird/horseshoe crab ecotourism industry
and non-lethal biomedical industry dwarfs horseshoe crab
dependent fisheries. A 2000 report to the NJ Division
of Fish & Wildlife valued the Delaware Bay ecotourism
between $16 and 34 million annually. The report only valued
ecotourism in New Jersey and did not quantify the flyway-wide
ecotourism industry associated with shorebirds. As such,
this figure severely underestimates the economics of shorebird-associated
ecotourism in eastern North America.
Even this gross undervaluation of ecotourism is significantly
greater than the entire eastern seaboard estimate for
eel and conch fisheries, which use horseshoe crabs as
bait. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service values the whole
Atlantic coast industry at around $14 million. In 2001,
the National Marine Fisheries Service valued the horseshoe
crabs landed in NJ at $134,800 and Delaware at $182,502.
Furthermore, marine fisheries biologists assert that viable
alternatives exist as bait for eel and conch.
Human health is also at risk from the collapse of horseshoe
crab populations. Each year, the biomedical industry bleeds
300,000 adult crabs; roughly 10% of bled individuals die.
A blood derivative, known as Limulus Amebocyte Lysate
(LAL), is used to detect endotoxins in all injectable
drugs (e.g. vaccines), medical implants, disease detection
including spinal meningitis and stream and ocean toxins.
No alternatives exist to LAL tests. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service valued the LAL industry at $150 million.
The combined dollar figures of ecotourism and the biomedical
industry is orders of magnitude larger than the fisheries
dependent on horseshoe crabs. Simply put, more dollars
and jobs result from keeping the horseshoe crab alive!
The Slam-Dunk — a Tale
of Synergy and Confusion
At this point, you may ask yourself, "So what's the problem?
If the science and economics agree, then why are we still
debating the issue?" Clearly, horseshoe crab harvesting
should and must be halted immediately. The problem comes
from two directions. First, marine fisheries councils
that regulate commercial fisheries have an abysmal track
record. Most major fisheries under their purview have
collapsed. Furthermore, several members of the NJ Marine
Fisheries Council have stated publicly that they don't
care about "the birds" (May 2, 2002 - Galloway Township
hearing). Bird watchers, ecotourism, the biomedical industry
and shorebirds have no voice in this broken regulatory
process.
The second obstacle is that no one wants to put the marine
fishing community out of work. However well-intentioned
this knee jerk response, we cannot allow sympathy for
a handful of individuals to destroy our natural heritage,
and in reality even more jobs, and threaten human health.
NJ Audubon continues to support economic displacement
packages.
In order to have a slam-dunk, someone needs to drive the
ball to the net. We are asking Governors and their natural
resource Commissioners in New Jersey and throughout the
Mid-Atlantic region to take a leadership role in closing
down this fishery before all is lost. Unless we take immediate
action, horseshoe crabs will emerge, as stated by Pete
Dunne, as "passenger pigeons on the half-shell" and the
massive shorebird migration will exist only in stories
of the past.
Copyright © 2003 New Jersey Audubon Society All rights
reserved.
For more information on the New Jersey Audubon Society's
Cape May Bird Observatory, visit the Cape
May Bird Observatory online.
For more information on horseshoe crabs, check out the
fact sheet: "Horseshoe
Brabs in the Delaware Bay".
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