N.J. fishing council rejects birders’ pleas
BATSTO, N.J. - A New Jersey fisheries council tonight rejected a state proposal to indefinitely extend a moratorium on harvesting horseshoe crabs that was put in place two years ago in hopes of reversing a dramatic decline in a migratory shore bird that some say is headed for extinction.
Environmentalists said the council vote, which came after nearly two hours of impassioned appeals by dozens of birders and other advocates, further imperils the red knot, which stops every spring on Delaware Bay to refuel on crab eggs.
But Virginia seafood processor Rick Robbins told the council said that the Department of Environmental Protection's moratoriumn was a "remarkably unimaginative solution" and that a small removal of male horseshoe crabs would not have a significanat impact on the birds.
The red knot population has declined significantly in the past decade; biologists with the DEP and elsewhere link the decline to a shortage of crab eggs caused by heavy harvesting in the 1990s. The crab is used as bait for eel and conch, which are shipped to Asian food markets.
David Chanda, director of the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife, said he was "very, very disappointed" by the decision, which puts the state in a regulatory bind.
State regulations now revert back to what they were before the moratorium passed in 2006. That would alllow an annual harvest of 150,000 crabs in total.
Meanwhile, an interstate regulatory body, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, has imposed a limit of 100,000 crabs, males only.
The seasonal harvest begins in May, when the crabs come onto the beaches to spawn. Chanda said that if the state is not in compliance with ASMFC regulations, that agency could shut down the harvest. But the governor could also declare an emergency moratorium, he said, as has happened in the past.
Chanda said "time will tell" whether the bird, which computer models suggest could go extinct as soon as 2010, will suffer from the decision.
The vote divided along distinct lines within the council - five commercial fishing members voted to veto the extension while four recreational members voted to retain it.
Larry Niles, a former DEP biologist who has advocated for the bird for more than a decade, said he was "stunned" by the decision. Eric Stiles, of New Jersey Audubon, vowed, "the upshot of this is we're going to litigate, and we're going to legislate."
More than 100 people had crammed into an auditorium at Batsto Village and three police officers stood by, at one point warning an audience member to remain calm as he challenged the procedure.
About 35 people spoke in favor of the moratorium.
Speaking against it were two commercial crabbers, a seafood processor; the head of the Garden State Seafood Association, and a horseshoe crab researcher who has championed a males-only harvest strategy that he says would satisfy both sides.
"I predict in 10 years you'll have people screaming, 'Come clean these stinking horseshoe crabs off my beach,' " said Carl N. Shuster, author of the 2004 book The American Horseshoe Crab.
The same council approved the original two-year moratorium. But several members said this time that they were uncomfortable with the open-ended language.
It would be different, said council member Edward Goldman, a recreational fisherman, "if this was a two-year moratorium or a one-year moratorium." Goldman said he was nevertheless supporting the moratorium because even if that turned out to be the wrong decision in hindsight, "at least the red knots will still be here."
A member representing the commercial fishing industry, Frances Puskas, said she wanted to defer to the interstate commission.
It decided last week to devise new regulations.