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By William Stieglitz - October 9, 2025
On Oct 7, representatives from 15 environmentalist groups gathered in Northport Harbor to rally for the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act (S.4289/A.4997), which would ban the harvesting of horseshoe crabs in New York for commercial and biomedical use. A study released last month, authored by Dr. Rebha Raviraj from Maritime Aquarime at Norwalk, showed a decrease of 2-9% in horseshoe crab populations in the Long Island Sound. At the event, Dr. Raviraj described the losses across the 46-year study as “very significant,” linking them to habitat loss, over-harvesting, insufficient management practices, and climate change.
The decrease, said David Ansel from Save the Sound, is felt very much by the local community. “It was a very tactile and real part of every kid on Long Island Sound’s experience to touch and wonder about these magnificent animals that were over 300 million years old. And the fact that in the last couple decades we’re losing a species that survived this fast, that survived that long, is actually really scary and disturbing.”
Species that rely on horseshoe crab eggs for food, elaborated Citizens Campaign for the Environment director Adrienne Esposito, are also at risk. This includes endangered species like the loggerhead and kemp ridley sea turtles, as well the threatened red knot bird. The red knot, according to Concerned Citizens of Montauk director Kay Tyler, needs horseshoe crab eggs for protein along its 9,000-mile annual migration, and has seen its plummet 87% since 1980. “Protecting horseshoe crabs isn’t about saving one species,” said Tyler. “it’s about preserving an entire ecosystem that depends on them.”
Eel and conch also rely on horseshoe crabs for their diet, though for this reason, fishers harvest the horseshoe crab to use as bait for them. Current state regulations allow the capture of up to 150,000 horseshoe crabs annually. Jane Fasullo from the Sierra Club describes the measure as insufficient, though, particularly because it relies on self-reporting, and says she has seen four-by-eight truckloads of harvested horseshoe crabs loaded so completely “that crabs were falling out of the truck.”
The other main use of harvested horseshoe crabs has been for biomedical use. Horseshoe crab blood, unique for its blue color and prescence of the bacteria-detecting LAL (Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate), has been used in drug testing for decades, though some companies like Pfizer now use synthetic alternatives. Christine Suter from Friends of the Bay argued that since “we have depended on these creatures for our survival, It is time for us to protect theirs.”
Some states, such as Connecticut and New Jersey, have already enacted legislation banning the harvesting of horseshoe crabs, though according to Ansel, horseshoe crabs in the Long Island Sound will only be safe if New York joins in. “The animals go back and forth,” he said. “We can’t protect the animals if the whole body of water is not protected.”
The Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, with support from the activists and the late Dr. Jane Goodall, passed the state assembly and senate last year. Governor Hochul (D) vetoed the bill, but did enact separate protections banning harvests during the full and new moon, when horseshoe crabs go onto the beach to mate. This year, the bill is before the governor again, having received majority support among state representatives from Suffolk, and the governor has to Dec 31 to sign it.