Biology Group Files Lawsuit to Protect Horseshoe Crabs

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(DELAWARE BAY, Del) – A national biology group is filing a lawsuit against the federal government over the lack of protections for one breed of shellfish vital to Eastern Shore waters.

The Center for Biological Diversity seeks Endangered Species Act protections for Horseshoe Crabs after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declares the protections are unwarranted.

This comes in the wake of the Horseshoe Crab population declining in both Maryland and Delaware waters.

“The egg, density on the beaches, in the Delaware Bay have declined by an order of magnitude. And for those reasons, the federal government should reconsider its decision and, and list the species,” says Center for Biological Diversity Senior Attorney, Danny Waltz.

Experts say Horseshoe Crabs aren’t the only species that face impacts from the lack of protections. Birds like the Delaware Red Knot feed on the eggs of horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay.

That species could also see impacts if the Horseshoe Crab isn’t protected.

Waltz tells WMDT, “So without Endangered Species Act protections for the Horseshoe Crab, not only does that species numbers plummet, but it puts a lot of other species that rely on it at risk.”

The Center for Biological Diversity tells WMDT the population of Horseshoe Crabs in the Delaware Bay has dropped from over one million to just over three hundred thirty thousand.