Gov. Hochul vetoes bill banning the harvesting of horseshoe crabs
Horseshoe crabs for bait at a fishing dock in Mattituck on Nov. 4. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday vetoed legislation that would have banned the harvest of horseshoe crabs as bait or for biomedical purposes. Credit: Newsday/Mark Harrington
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday vetoed legislation that would have banned the harvest of horseshoe crabs as bait or for biomedical purposes in a move applauded by Long Island fishermen and criticized by a scientist as "disappointing."
Horseshoe crabs are used by around a dozen fishermen in waterways around Long Island who set traps for eels and whelk, the snaillike creatures also known as conch. The bill also would have banned their use for biomedical purposes, though such uses have been limited in New York, experts said.
"While this bill is well intentioned, the management of marine species is better left to the experts" at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Hochul wrote in her veto statement. She urged the State Legislature to "restore DEC's specific authority to regulate crabs" and directed the agency to review and implement "further administrative measures to protect this species," using its "broad authority" to protect and regulate marine resources.
The DEC has previously implemented measures to limit the harvest of horseshoe crabs, including closing the harvest around spring and summer full moon evenings when most are spawning.
John Tanacredi, a professor of environmental sciences at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, noted that other eastern states from South Carolina to Maine already have horseshoe crab bans in place, and he pointed to a finding by the Atlantic State's Marine Fisheries Commission that New York is managing the species "poorly."
"It's unfortunate," said Tanacredi, who has been monitoring horseshoe crab spawning sites across the region for 22 years. He said their abundance has been steady for the past three years, but breeding beaches have declined around 8%.
He said he'll continue to urge legislators to pass the ban in future sessions, noting the DEC rules allow some 150,000 horseshoe crabs to be taken each year.
Among conservationists who had supported the ban was Dr. Jane Goodall, who in November wrote Hochul urging her to sign the bill to "ensure the survival of the horseshoe crab and the many species that depend on it." The Sierra Club and Audubon Society also pleaded with Hochul to approve it.
But fishermen who use the horseshoe crabs to trap whelk and eels say the lack of them for bait will damaged an already reeling industry.
Will Caldwell, a Hampton Bays fishermen who has fished for whelk and horseshoe crabs, said his work with Cornell has shown that alternative baits proposed as replacements don’t work. He expressed relief at Hochul's veto, calling it a "game changer" for those who faced shut down from the ban.
Phil Karlin, a Riverhead fisherman, said he'd prepared to switch to abundant spider crabs to use as bait as the industry awaited word of Hochul's decision. "I'm glad she vetoed it," he said Saturday morning.
Jamie Hummel, a fisherman from Hampton Bays, had worried that a ban on horseshoe crabs for bait would have had dire consequences for whelk fishermen. The state had been attempting to develop alternative baits to horseshoe crabs, but Hummel said he has tried them and "caught nothing."
He's also tried spider crabs, which are plentiful in local bays, and green crabs, which are increasing in numbers, but nothing works for whelk like horseshoe crabs, he said.
Hummel said he and other fishermen have proposed changes in the horseshoe crab fishery in which only those who trap whelk and eels could take horseshoe crabs for their needs — he uses about 2,000 crabs per season — but regulators thus far haven't adopted it.
Under the rules, fishermen can take between 100 to 200 horseshoe crabs a day, depending on the season, with bans around full-moon spawning nights. Hummel catches the horseshoe crabs in the spring and freezes them for use primarily in the fall.
The market for whelk, Hummel said, has been hard hit this year, tied mainly to a down economy in Hong Kong, where conch is a delicacy. Prices have dropped to around $1.75 a pound from a prior high of $3.50 a pound. "We face a lot of market pressures and this [ban] is just another thing that [would have made] life harder," he said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday vetoed legislation that would have banned the harvest of horseshoe crabs as bait or for biomedical purposes in a move applauded by Long Island fishermen and criticized by a scientist as "disappointing."
Horseshoe crabs are used by around a dozen fishermen in waterways around Long Island who set traps for eels and whelk, the snaillike creatures also known as conch. The bill also would have banned their use for biomedical purposes, though such uses have been limited in New York, experts said.
"While this bill is well intentioned, the management of marine species is better left to the experts" at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Hochul wrote in her veto statement. She urged the State Legislature to "restore DEC's specific authority to regulate crabs" and directed the agency to review and implement "further administrative measures to protect this species," using its "broad authority" to protect and regulate marine resources.
The DEC has previously implemented measures to limit the harvest of horseshoe crabs, including closing the harvest around spring and summer full moon evenings when most are spawning.
John Tanacredi, a professor of environmental sciences at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, noted that other eastern states from South Carolina to Maine already have horseshoe crab bans in place, and he pointed to a finding by the Atlantic State's Marine Fisheries Commission that New York is managing the species "poorly."
"It's unfortunate," said Tanacredi, who has been monitoring horseshoe crab spawning sites across the region for 22 years. He said their abundance has been steady for the past three years, but breeding beaches have declined around 8%.
He said he'll continue to urge legislators to pass the ban in future sessions, noting the DEC rules allow some 150,000 horseshoe crabs to be taken each year.
Among conservationists who had supported the ban was Dr. Jane Goodall, who in November wrote Hochul urging her to sign the bill to "ensure the survival of the horseshoe crab and the many species that depend on it." The Sierra Club and Audubon Society also pleaded with Hochul to approve it.
But fishermen who use the horseshoe crabs to trap whelk and eels say the lack of them for bait will damaged an already reeling industry.
Will Caldwell, a Hampton Bays fishermen who has fished for whelk and horseshoe crabs, said his work with Cornell has shown that alternative baits proposed as replacements don’t work. He expressed relief at Hochul's veto, calling it a "game changer" for those who faced shut down from the ban.
Phil Karlin, a Riverhead fisherman, said he'd prepared to switch to abundant spider crabs to use as bait as the industry awaited word of Hochul's decision. "I'm glad she vetoed it," he said Saturday morning.
Jamie Hummel, a fisherman from Hampton Bays, had worried that a ban on horseshoe crabs for bait would have had dire consequences for whelk fishermen. The state had been attempting to develop alternative baits to horseshoe crabs, but Hummel said he has tried them and "caught nothing."
He's also tried spider crabs, which are plentiful in local bays, and green crabs, which are increasing in numbers, but nothing works for whelk like horseshoe crabs, he said.
Hummel said he and other fishermen have proposed changes in the horseshoe crab fishery in which only those who trap whelk and eels could take horseshoe crabs for their needs — he uses about 2,000 crabs per season — but regulators thus far haven't adopted it.
Under the rules, fishermen can take between 100 to 200 horseshoe crabs a day, depending on the season, with bans around full-moon spawning nights. Hummel catches the horseshoe crabs in the spring and freezes them for use primarily in the fall.
The market for whelk, Hummel said, has been hard hit this year, tied mainly to a down economy in Hong Kong, where conch is a delicacy. Prices have dropped to around $1.75 a pound from a prior high of $3.50 a pound. "We face a lot of market pressures and this [ban] is just another thing that [would have made] life harder," he said.
Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.
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