(Fwd) Horseshoe Crab Hearing <fwd>
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Fri, 29 May 1998 19:28:21 -0500
Ospreyers,
Please note the following request from Gerald Winegrad and make every
attempt to attend this public meeting regarding DNR's Horseshoe Crab
regulations. Wouldn't it be a shame if Delaware and New Jersey could point to
Maryland and say that it is OUR fault that they no longer see the amazing
spectacle of shorebirds and horsesho crab egg-laying along the shores of the
Delaware Bay?
Tell all of your friends, contact every chapter you can think of. Get out there
and let the DNR and the watermen hear the voice of the conservation
community!
Best,
Norm
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 09:03:45 -0700
From: Gerald Winegrad <gwwabc@erols.com>
Subject: Horseshoe Crab Hearing
As you know, thanks in part to groups like the MOS, the State of
Maryland enacted significant restrictions on the take of Horseshoe Crabs
(HSC). However, there is still much to be done. Your help and attendance
is needed at a meeting/hearing that is coming up that is critical for the
HSC. On Wednesday, June 3 at 7:00 PM, the Maryland DNR will hold a public
meeting on their tough new HSC regulations. These were enacted as
emergency regulations effective April 10 and therefore expire this year.
The DNR will be conducting this public hearing/meeting to elicit comments
from the public on the regs and the proposal to make them permanent by
issuing new regs. The hearing is being held in Salisbury, MD at the
Wicomico County Library. As you know, Salisbury is near the center of the
HSC fishing industry so you can be assured that the watermen that take the
crabs and those that use them for bait will be organized and out in great
numbers. Conservationists, especially birders, need to attend this meeting
and speak out on the need for making the emergency regs permanent. If
this is not done, Maryland's coastal waters can become the killing ground
again for hundreds of thousands of HSC w/o any restrictions other than a
license requirement. I will attend and hope you and others from the
Maryland Ornithological Society will also and speak out for the Horseshoe
Crab. Maryland still allows a liberal catch of 750,000 lbs. which is far
greater than was taken in the early 1990's and before. It is important
that Maryland citizens attend and speak. can you alert Maryland MOS
Chapter members and ask them to attend? What about the Chapters from the
E. Shore? So, please attend and also try and have other conservationists
come out speak in favor of continuing the regs permanently to protect the
Horseshoe Crab from over exploitation.
We are close to assuring the protection from over harvest of this
ancient mariner and the shorebirds that are dependent on its eggs. I
again witnessed this amazing natural wonder on Delaware Bay last weekend
with the beaches coverd with green caviar--Crab eggs--feeding thousands of
shorebirds. I saw over 1,000 Ruddy Turnstones and rescued over 80 Crabs
who were flipped over or lodged in human installed rip-rap. All of us who
have witnessed this natural wonder need to speak up for the protection of
the Horseshoe Crab. Call Howard King at DNR at 410-260-8264 or me for more
info. My #'s: DC-202-778-9666; Annapolis--410-280-8956. If you or any
one else wants to car pool from the Annapolis area, let me know.
Gerald Winegrad
American Bird Conservancy
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for a few good [men]
people to do nothing."---Rousseau ---
End Forwarded Message ---
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net