A small bird makes an epic flight from Antarctic
to Arctic, nearly pole-to-pole, every year.
Along the way, the red knot makes a migratory
pit stop in the Delaware Bay, where it eats thousands of eggs from a creature
that couldn’t be more different from it: the ancient, helmeted
horseshoe crab.
For nearly eight years, the state has protected
the horseshoe crabs from fishermen in the hope it would boost the bird’s
dwindling numbers worldwide. But that could soon change.
A moratorium protecting horseshoe crabs along
New Jersey’s shoreline could soon be lifted, as proposed in a state Assembly bill
that’s before a committee today in Trenton.
Environmentalists say lifting the moratorium
would up-end a delicate balance in the food chain that’s just beginning to
stabilize, after years of over-fishing. The seafood industry says allowing
collection of the crabs again would give certain parts of the fishing industry
a desperately needed source of bait.
The ongoing ban would end with passage of the
bill sponsored by Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D - Atlantic, Cape May and
Cumberland). The measure is before the Agriculture and Natural Resources
Committee this afternoon.
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