SOURCE:
By Karl Grossman, November 21, 2025
Will New York Governor Kathy Hochul sign or again veto a bill to protect horseshoe crabs that, by large majorities, passed again in the State Legislature earlier this year? Hochul vetoed the same bill last year.
She claimed then that the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act was “well intentioned,” but its management should best be left with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
She said the DEC has “significant rules and regulations regarding commercial and recreational fishing in the state.”
It currently has an annual quota of 150,000 horseshoe crabs that can be taken.
Environmentalists have been actively calling on Hochul to sign the measure this year.
Last week, the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter (which covers Suffolk County) in a message directed to the governor said: “These ‘living fossils’ that predate dinosaurs by more than 200 million years play a critical role in supporting the ecological function of estuaries and serve as a food source for many birds, turtles, and fish. They have been over-harvested for their blood by the medical industry and as bait by the fishing industry, to the point of being vulnerable to local extinction.”
The Sierra Club stated: “There are safe, effective alternatives for the medical use of horseshoe crab blood, but the market for their blood is lucrative and their capture has increased in recent years. As nearby states ban the harvesting of these magnificent creatures, there will be more collection in New York unless we protect them and the ecosystems that depend on them.”
The Group for the East End, emphasizing “it is now up to Hochul” to sign the bill, declared: “Horseshoe crabs have existed for more than 350 million years. We see them spawning on our East End beaches and in the waters where children play. Their eggs serve as a vital food source to migratory shorebirds and numerous fish species. Horseshoe crabs play a vital role in our marine ecosystem, but now, their populations are declining at a rapid pace.”
Its statement continued: “Harvesting for bait and biomedical purposes, along with habitat loss, are having a profound impact on our local horseshoe crab population. Here on Long Island, there is a documented population decline with no end in sight.”
“While horseshoe crabs have played an integral role in the biomedical and commercial fishery industries, it has been to their detriment. Alternatives for biomedical use of horseshoe crab blood exist and have become mainstream. If alternatives are not utilized for commercial bait, the horseshoe crab population will likely continue to decline beyond repair.”
The Group, based in Southold, pointed out that last year “the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to list the Atlantic horseshoe crab as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.”
Last year, the students of Islip Middle School embarked on a letter-writing campaign urging Governor Hochul to sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, but their efforts did not sway her.
It added: “In 2023, Connecticut adopted stringent regulations to help boost populations for conservation purposes. Data has shown that when one area strengthens its regulations, other areas experience an increase in harvest rates. As New York and Connecticut share Long Island Sound, we see how critical it is for New York to follow suit and enact a similar ban. We cannot allow this ecologically important species to face extinction.”
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said that last year Hochul “didn’t just drop the ball, she dropped the axe by vetoing the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act.”
Esposito said she and other environmentalists were “appalled” that Hochul “squandered a rare and special opportunity to save an ancient species from extinction. The governor’s inaction is not only harmful to horseshoe crabs but also to the many other species that rely on them.”
In September, Citizens Campaign for the Environment organized a rally and press conference in Oyster Bay for, as the invitation was headed, “Urging Governor Hochul to Sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act into Law!”
Before she died this past October, the famed scientist Dr. Jane Goodall joined in calling for Hochul to sign the act, writing a letter to the governor saying: “I believe New York has an opportunity to lead in this conservation effort. By signing this bill, you can ensure the survival of the horseshoe crab and the many species that depend on it. I have devoted my life to preserving the planet, and I hope, together, we can make a lasting difference in this important corner of the world.”
On the other side of the issue is Bonnie Brady and the Montauk-based Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, of which she is executive director. Writing in October in National Fisherman, Brady stated: “Some ideas sound noble in theory but collapse under the weight of the facts. That’s the case with legislation that would ban the harvest and sale of horseshoe crabs by New York’s licensed commercial fishermen.”
“Proponents call it ‘protection,’” she wrote. “In reality, it’s an unnecessary ban that would wipe out livelihoods, damage sustainable local fisheries, and ignore the very science-based efforts that state and federal regulators have built together. Gov. Kathy Hochul understood that last year when she vetoed the same bill.”
The act was passed this year in the State Assembly by 100 votes to 45. It was passed in the State Senate by 43 votes to 16.
“We’re not trying to eliminate the livelihood of the fishing community, but we know that the importance of horseshoe crabs to the environment outweighs their usefulness as bait,” Assemblymember Deborah Glick, again the measure’s lead Assembly sponsor is quoted as saying in an extensive article in The New York Times last week headlined “Hochul Urged to Ban Horseshoe Crab Fishing.”
Glick is a Manhattan resident with a Fire Island connection that provided for exposure to horseshoe crabs. She spent several years renting on Fire Island, a habitat for horseshoe crabs.
The Times article said “Ken Lovett, a spokesman for Governor Hochul, declined to comment on the bill,” but reported, “She is expected to make a decision on this year’s bill by the end of the year.”
There is still time for Hochul to sign the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act.