This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

Valid Massachusetts address required to submit.

Horseshoe crabs have been exploited for use in the biomedical industry, but also as bait to be used by other fisheries, which has put their survival in jeopardy. However, a new bill in Massachusetts could protect them from at least one of those industries.

An Act to End the Taking of Horseshoe Crabs for Bait (H.898) would, as the name suggests, ban the taking of horseshoe crabs for bait. Urge lawmakers to pass this important piece of legislation to protect horseshoe crabs.

Horseshoe crab blood has been used for decades by the biomedical industry in safety testing for vaccines and medical supplies, but horseshoe crabs are also targeted to be used as bait to catch whelk, who are also considered to be overfished in the state.

The massive numbers taken every year have threatened not only the survival of horseshoe crabs, but also many other animals who rely on this keystone species, which has affected entire coastal ecosystems.

In 2024, concerns about their survival led to a ban on taking horseshoe crabs during their spawning season, which runs from April to June, but even with that change, two separate quotas for allowing them to be taken are still 140,000 as bait and 200,000 for the biomedical industry. The bait quota was reached that year, and the biomedical quota came close, even with the delay.

Concerns have also been raised about the crossover between the two industries; horseshoe crabs taken by the bait industry may also be borrowed by biomedical companies to be bled before being sold as bait, further incentivizing demand for them.

The proposed legislation would take some major pressure off horseshoe crabs by banning taking them for bait entirely.

Letter to Decision Maker(s) for reference:

Subject: Support Act to End the Taking of Horseshoe Crabs for Bait (H.898)

As someone concerned with marine conservation, I’m writing to urge you to support an Act to End the Taking of Horseshoe Crabs for Bait (H. 898), which would address a major threat to these unique and beloved animals.
 
Unfortunately, decades of exploitation by the biomedical industry, which has taken millions since the 1970s to drain them of their blood, which is used in endotoxin testing for vaccines and medical devices, and by bait fisheries targeting whelk and eel.  
 
In 2024, concerns about their survival led to a ban on taking horseshoe crabs during their spawning season, which runs from April to June, but even with that change, two separate quotas allowing them to be taken as bait are still 140,000 and 200,000 for the biomedical industry. The bait quota was reached that year, and the biomedical quota came close, even with the delay.
 
Concerns have also been raised about the crossover between the two industries; horseshoe crabs taken by the bait industry may also be borrowed by biomedical companies to be bled before being sold as bait, further incentivizing demand for them.

Economically, the bait fishery only brought in $280,000 among 40 people in 2024, while removing far too many valuable individuals. 
 
Capturing them during their spawning season is also short-sighted and irresponsible, especially considering how slow they are to mature and reproduce, which typically takes more than a decade, and that there’s a skewed sex ratio as high as 9:1 in some areas with far fewer females.
 
Coupled with habitat loss to coastal development, rising sea levels that impact spawning grounds, pollution, and other threats, every measure must be taken to ensure they survive.

Horseshoe crabs aren’t just inherently valuable; they’re vital to coastal ecosystems, and their survival is essential to supporting dozens of other species, including federally protected migratory shorebirds and loggerhead sea turtles.
 
I sincerely hope you will support this important piece of legislation to take pressure off horseshoe crabs, especially as new regulatory changes are encouraging the biomedical industry to switch to synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood.

Sincerely,

Signed

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.