SOURCE:
https://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/horseshoe-crab-ban-wvlzpxqd
By Yancey Roy - June 12, 2025
ALBANY — State legislators have made another run at prohibiting the harvesting of horseshoe crabs, hoping a bill they approved this week won’t be quashed by a veto.
The State Senate gave final approval late Wednesday to a bill that bans harvest of horseshoe crabs for use as bait or for biomedical purposes. The Assembly passed it a week earlier.
The bill is identical to one Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vetoed last year. So what’s different this time?
"Things have gotten worse" for the crab and the species it is linked to on the food chain, said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Long Island-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
"I think it is very important to recognize that this is a keystone species that other species rely on," said Esposito, who was at the State Capitol Thursday to lobby on several bills. "When the horseshoe crab numbers decline, so do the shorebirds."
She noted the state this spring added the rufa red knot — a shorebird that feeds on horseshoe crabs — to its endangered species list.
"We shouldn’t wait for these species to be on the brink before we act," Esposito said.
Newsday has reported previously that horseshoe crabs are used by around a dozen fishermen around Long Island in traps for eels and whelk, the latter often called conch.
The bill also would ban the use of horseshoe crab for biomedical purposes, though such uses have been limited in New York, experts have said.
Avi Small, spokesman for Hochul, didn’t comment on the bill, other than to say: "The governor will review the legislation."
Last year, Hochul vetoed the bill, saying management of the crab should be left to the state Department of Environmental Conservation — a decision applauded by local fishermen. The environmental agency has, in the past, put in measures such as closing harvesting at full moon in spring and summer when the crabs are spawning.
"But the fact is nothing has been done to protect the horseshoe crab" since the veto, State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), sponsor of the bill, said Thursday. Further, he said, neighboring states already have bans on horseshoe crab harvests, putting pressure on New York numbers.
The Senate approved the bill, 43-16. The Long Islanders who voted in favor were State Sens. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood), Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury), Mario Mattera (R-St. James) and Alexis Weik (R-Sayville).
Opposed were State Sens. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R-Malverne), Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) and Steven Rhoads (R-Bellmore).
Palumbo said Thursday a moratorium would deal "another blow" to fishermen.
Said the Republican: "I’d rather we carefully manage horseshoe crabs and include a carve out for biomedical uses."