| | NAS Comments on ASMFC Addendum I to the Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan |
 | | This recommendation was based on increases in catch and effort, coupled with several surveys that suggested localized declines in relative abundance, slow maturation, susceptibility of spawning crabs to harvest, population resiliency, and the need for sustainable biomedical and bait fisheries and the importance of horseshoe crab eggs as a food source for migratory birds. |
 | | Despite the warnings of their scientific experts that the horseshoe crab population was in jeopardy, the ASMFC delayed action, allowing 3 million horseshoe crabs to be landed in 1999. |
 | | The horseshoe crab and the migratory shorebirds that depend on it are an integral part of one of the fastest growing recreational industries in the country, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
| www.audubon.org /campaign/horseshoe/comments.htm (3371 words) |