Update, 1/17/08, from Fish and Wildlife: A special meeting of the Marine Fisheries Council has been scheduled for Monday, February 11, 2008, at the Galloway Twp. Branch of the Atlantic Co. Library, 306 East Jimmie Leeds Rd., Galloway, NJ 08205. Please note that the meeting is scheduled to begin 3:30 pm. This meeting is to discuss the DEP's proposed continuation of the moratorium on the harvest of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay.

From the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife:

A continuation of the moratorium on the harvest of horseshoe crabs has been proposed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to aid in preventing further declines of red knots, and to promote their recovery.

Intensive research by Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists shows that the red knot population is now in worse condition than two years ago. The number of birds is lower, their ability to gain weight has decreased, and the density of crab eggs has shown no improvement. At least two other shorebirds that rely on horseshoe crab eggs (semipalmated sandpiper and ruddy turnstone) are now showing a similar inability to gain sufficient weight.

Division of Fish and Wildlife Director David Chanda has written a letter to the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council explaining the need for DEP's proposed continuation of the horseshoe crab harvest moratorium.

The letter in its entirety, and the Rule Proposal to continue the moratorium, are linked from http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2008/hcmoratorium.htm on the division's Web site.

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