SOURCE:
https://www.suffolkcountynews.net/stories/dont-be-crabby-environmental-groups-tell-hochul,98221
By Gary Haber - October 15, 2025
Northport Harbor was the backdrop for a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at which a coalition of environmental groups asked Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation to protect the horseshoe crab in New York State.
For the second year in a row, the Save the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act passed the Senate and Assembly with wide support. The bill would ban the taking of horseshoe crabs statewide for biomedical and commercial use. It also extends until Dec. 31, 2027, the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s ability to regulate the management of horseshoe crabs.
The Senate and Assembly each passed the bill in June.
It passed the Assembly 100 to 45 on June 5. It passed the Senate 43 to 16 on June 11.
Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigel, of Manhattan, is the primary sponsor in the Senate and assemblywoman Deborah Glick, of Manhattan, is the primary sponsor in the Assembly.
Hochul vetoed the bill in 2024, saying that management of the horseshoe crab should be left to the DEC.
Supporters are hoping for a different fate this year.
“We need Gov. Hochul to act now,” Citizens Campaign for the Environment executive director Adrienne Esposito said at the press conference.
Gordon Tepper, a spokesman for Hochul, said she will review the legislation.
Common to Long Island
Horseshoe crabs are found in Long Island waters, including on the South Shore.
They have existed for more than 350 million years and are harvested by fishermen as bait for catching conch and eels. Their blood is used by pharmaceutical companies for testing the purity of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. A component called Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL), found in the blood of horseshoe crabs, detects bacteria.
Connecticut and New Jersey have banned the harvesting of horseshoe crabs. In New York, Gov. Hochul imposed some limits on the practice, but vetoed legislation that would have banned it. New York allows up to 150,000 horseshoe crabs to be harvested each year statewide, but opponents of the practice say the state leaves it up to fishermen to make sure they follow the limits.
A 2025 study found that the horseshoe crab population in Long Island Sound is declining by as much as 9 percent a year.
Horseshoe crabs are threatened by a number of factors: overharvesting, climate change and habitat loss. It takes between nine and 12 years for a horseshoe crab to grow to the point where it can reproduce.
A number of species rely on horseshoe crabs for food, including fin fish like striped bass and winter flounder and shorebirds like the red knot, which makes New York a stop on its long migration from the tip of South America to northern Canada. New York State listed the red knot as an endangered species in May of this year. Its population declined 87 percent between 1980 and 2023, said Kay Tyler, executive director of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, who spoke at Tuesday’s press conference.
While the press conference was held at Northport Harbor, Esposito said the threat to horseshoe crabs isn’t limited to Long Island Sound.
“This is a South Shore problem and a North Shore problem,” she said.