Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
Senator ROBERT M. GORDON
District 38 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Whelan, Sweeney and Singer
SYNOPSIS
Imposes moratorium on harvest and possession of horseshoe crabs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning horseshoe crabs and shorebird conservation and supplementing P.L.1979, c.199 (C.23:2B-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that each spring more than a million shorebirds of six species, including the red knot, stop at Delaware Bay beaches and feed upon horseshoe crab eggs; that the red knot was once considered one of New Jersey’s most abundant shorebirds; that this critical food source of horseshoe crab eggs consumed during the stopover of the red knot in New Jersey and Delaware is needed for the birds to gain sufficient weight to continue their migration north to breeding grounds in the Canadian Artic; that surveys have shown that red knots migrating through the bay region have declined by 65 percent since 2000; and that state and international biologists fear that the red knot will become extinct in as few as five years.
The Legislature therefore determines that a moratorium on the harvest, landing and possession of horseshoe crabs would help ensure that more horseshoe crab eggs will be available as a food source, thus helping to ensure survival of these shorebirds.
2. a. There shall be a moratorium on the taking in the State of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs, on the landing in the State of such crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs taken from outside of the State, and on the possession of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs regardless of their origin, until such time as: (1) the population of the red knot shorebird reaches a population of 240,000 established in the United States Shorebird Conservation Plan of May 2001; or (2) a fisheries management plan, which, based upon scientific study and evidence, demonstrates and guarantees to the satisfaction of the Department of Environmental Protection that a more than adequate food supply from horseshoe crab eggs for shorebirds and population viability for both shorebirds and horseshoe crabs exist. The plan shall be subject to public comment and approval by a peer-review panel which shall include qualified shorebird ornithologists, horseshoe crab ecologists, and the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee created pursuant to subsection e. of section 7 of P.L.1973, c.309 (C.23:2A-7). The study must indicate that the shorebirds species including the red knot rufa subspecies have fully recovered, according to the United States Shorebird Conservation Plan of May 2001, before the reestablishment of a limited harvest season may be considered.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the contrary, the Department of Environmental Protection may issue a permit for: (1) the taking, landing and posession of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs for scientific or educational purposes only, provided that the department determines that the collection of the horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs for these purposes will not cause harm to the red knot, other shorebirds, or horseshoe crab populations; or
(2) the collection of blood from horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes, provided that the horseshoe crabs are released otherwise unharmed to the same waters from which they were collected.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would impose a moratorium on the taking in the State of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs, the landing in the State of horseshoe crabs and the eggs of horseshoe crabs taken from outside of the State, and on the possession of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs regardless of their origin, until such time as: (1) the population of the red knot shorebird reaches a population of 240,000 established in the United States Shorebird Conservation Plan of May 2001; or (2) a fisheries management plan, which, based upon scientific study and evidence, demonstrates and guarantees to the satisfaction of the Department of Environmental Protection that a more than adequate food supply from horseshoe crab eggs for shorebirds and population viability for both shorebirds and horseshoe crabs exist.
The bill would authorize only two exceptions from the moratorium, both of which would require a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection. The two exceptions are:
(1) the taking, landing and posession of horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs for scientific or educational purposes only, provided that the department determines that the collection of the horseshoe crabs or the eggs of horseshoe crabs for these purposes will not cause harm to the red knot, other shorebirds, or horseshoe crab populations; or
(2) the collection of blood from horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes, provided that the horseshoe crabs are released otherwise unharmed into the same waters from which they were collected.