Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 09:31:54 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Tyler Bell Subject: Horseshoe Crabs and Virginia Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Not only is Virginia one of the last vestiges of tobacco, it seems that = they have a corner on the market of stupid fishermen as well. ******************************* Washington Post April 13, 2000 Section B, page 4 VIRGINIA DEFIES RULE ON HORSESHOE CRABS. STATE PITTED AGAINST ITS EAST COAST NEIGHBORS=20 IN BATTLE OVER NEW FISHING LIMIT. By STEVEN GINSBERG Washington Post Staff Writer Horseshoe crabs --those helmet-shaped creatures that dot Atlantic beaches like remnants from a long-ago battle have become the central figures in an environmental struggle between Virginia and virtually every other state along the Eastern Seaboard. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has ordered states to pare their intake of horseshoe crabs by 25 percent before May 1. Supporters say the new regulation is necessary to protect horseshoe crabs from extinction,= as well as to preserve migratory birds that rely on crab eggs for food. But fishery officials in Virginia, which counts on the animals as bait for the $7 million-a-year conch industry, have refused to go along, saying the regulation is not based on scientific evidence. The Virginia officials = also said they lack the legislative authority to agree to the rule. "Our state laws require us to adopt regulations based on science," said = Jack Travelstead, chief of fisheries management for the Virginia Marine = Resources Commission. "When you look at the lack of science.. . we can't do it, we can't adopt the quota." Officials in other states concur that there is a lack of scientific evidence, but they favor erring on the.side of conservation until that information can be gathered. "Our point is that we need to be conservative on this and hopefully not be in a position of destroying the populations" said Bruce Freeman, research scientist at the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Officials in other states also are irked by Virginia's contention that its hands are tied by a lack of legislation. States were alerted of the impending change in November, and the regulation was announced in = February, enough time, the other states said, to take legislative action. Virginia's legislative session ended March 10. "There's a way to do things if you want to do them," said Charlie Lesser, fisheries administrator for Delaware, "And if you don't want to do them, there are all kinds of ways not to do them." Horseshoe crabs are known as "living fossils' because they have been = around for 250 million years. Individuals live to be about 16 years old and grow = to a length of about two feet and a weight of 10 pounds. For most of the year, horseshoe crabs crawl along the bottom of bays; they emerge only in late spring and early summer to spawn. The crabs bury their eggs just under the surface of the beach. The eggs serve as food for migratory birds as they make their yearly = journey from South America to the Arctic, where they reproduce. Environmental officials fear that if the horseshoe crab population dwindles, there won't be enough eggs to fortify the birds to finish their flights, much less reproduce. "What's beginning to happen," said Perry Plumart, senior policy adviser at the National Audubon Society, "is that birds are shown not to replenish = body weight when they go to the Arctic and they're not able to reproduce." Conch processors in Virginia, however, warn of a similar disintegration if the regulation is adopted. "We estimate that the plan in its current form would result in about a 40 percent shortfall in bait needed for Virginia's conch industry," said Rick = Robbins, owner of Chesapeake Bay Packing in Newport News. "The economic damages = would be in excess of $3 million to the industry." If Virginia does not comply by the May 1 deadline, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will ask the U.S. Commerce Department to force Virginia into line, a process that could take at least six months. From 1997 to 1999, the number of horseshoe crabs brought into Virginia surged from about 200,000 to more than 1 million as fishermen migrated to the "loophole" state. In response, Virginia officials set the current = catch limit of 710,000 crabs a year, reasoning that the state could absorb the numbers not allowed in states that had already reduced their intakes. But the commission said Virginia's limit should be 152,000 crabs, based on a 1995-97 average that all states, including Virginia, agreed upon. "Maryland and New Jersey went well beyond [the required reduction] because of the danger to birds," said Tom O'Connell, the commission's horseshoe = crab plan coordinator. "Virginia's overage would basically negate Maryland and New Jersey's extra efforts." By the time the Commerce Department rules, it is likely that Virginia already will have reached the 710,000 limit. Since the department's ruling would be retroactive, Virginia would have to make up the difference in future years. That would mean the entire industry could be shut down in Virginia for four to five years. "That's something well have to consider," Travelstead acknowledged. He = said it could persuade officials to acquiesce to the regulation before May 1. Tyler Bell mailto:bell@acnatsci.org California, MD http://www.audubon.org/listserv/md-smas-general.html http://www.audubon.org/listserv/nd-birds.html ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================