In 2024, Massachusetts made a small but significant step toward protecting horseshoe crabs by banning their harvest during part of their spawning season. However, the fishing industry is still permitted to kill up to 140,000 horseshoe crabs annually for bait—a practice that severely hampers the species' ability to recover.
These regulatory changes, though insufficient, highlight the vital role horseshoe crabs play in human health and the Atlantic coastal ecosystem. Once so abundant that coastal towns paid bounties to remove them, horseshoe crabs are now so rare that they are considered functionally extinct in many areas. Their decline jeopardizes countless other species that depend on their eggs, including migratory birds like the red knot.
Ending the use of horseshoe crabs for bait is a crucial step toward their recovery and the restoration of balance in coastal ecosystems.
How You Can Help
Support Bill H. 898 to stop the needless killing of horseshoe crabs for bait. Ask your state representative to co-sponsor the bill and urge your state senator to introduce and support a Senate version. Together, we can give these ancient creatures a chance to thrive again.
Call or text Sharl Heller at (617) 449-8816 for more information and a sample letter/talking points to send to your favorite rep. Thank you.
Follow Bill No. H.898 here
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Bill H. 898: AN ACT TO END THE TAKING OF HORSESHOE CRABS FOR BAIT
An Act to end the taking of horseshoe crabs for bait.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Chapter 130 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
Section 107. (a) As used in this section, the following term shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meaning:
“Horseshoe crab,” the species known as Limulus polyphemus.
(b) No person shall engage in the harvesting of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs from coastal waters to be used as bait.
(b) The director may authorize the taking of horseshoe crabs by permit for educational or scientific purposes; provided that, the director determines that such harvesting will not cause harm to the horseshoe crab population of coastal waters.
(c) The taking of horseshoe crabs incidentally during legal fishing operations shall not violate this section if the horseshoe crabs are returned immediately to coastal waters unharmed.
(d) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be fined $25 for each horseshoe crab taken from coastal waters. No penalty shall result in possessing a cast off or molted shell also known as an exoskeleton of a horseshoe crab.
(e) Pursuant to chapter 30A, the division shall promulgate rules and regulations to enforce the provisions of this section.