Sun 2/10 at 8pm - Del Bay Red Knot/Horshoe Crab Show

[Sterling]

I haven't been dialed into the Red Knot / Horseshoe Crab controversy so I don't have a position on the whole thing and I'm not sure I could tell you what a Red Knot even looks like. I do know that I see a lot less horsheshoe crabs around these days compared to 15 years ago and that is concerning. In any event I received an email about this documentary and thought it may be of interest. I haven't seen it yet.
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On Sunday, February 10th on PBS (see local listings for time), a documentary film called Crash: A Tale of Two Species, will be aired for the first time. This film, from the award winning documentary series Nature, details the intricate relationship between the red knot, a bird with one of the longest migrations on the planet, and the horseshoe crab, a living fossil whose eggs sustain the red knot's migration.

The film follows the research of former chief of the NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program, Larry Niles and Division biologist, Mandy Dey in the knot's wintering grounds in South America, its migratory stopover on the Delaware Bay and its nesting grounds in the Canadian Arctic. The film will help the public understand the important relationship between the red knot and the horseshoe crab. It will also help the public understand the critical role of the Division of Fish and Wildlife in ensuring the future of all of New Jersey's fish and wildlife species.

[boatliftman]

you actually believe that horseshit

[flatbottom]

there is a small sand mound on the Delaware side, very important to a inlet. Years of requests to stabilize the mound were filed and turned down. The answer was to notify a tree hugger group, mention birds and horse shoe crab.....bingo bongo....fed money popped up. This will be an interesting show....thanks Sterling

[Bert Rodgers]

you actually believe that horseshit

And on what specific knowledge do you base your comment?

I'm sure the producers and scientists may overstate the severity a bit, but I'm also sure there is plenty of truth too.

Bert

[Younger]

you actually believe that horseshit

Yes I do.

Here is the way I look at it:

You get ONE chance to save an endangered species. Once they are gone, it is too late. You may not care about red knots, but they are the poster child for what is going on in the world.

[Younger]

A setback for advocates of at-risk shore bird
By Sandy Bauers

Inquirer Staff Writer

The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council last night rejected a state proposal to indefinitely extend a moratorium on harvesting horseshoe crabs that was put in place two years ago in hope of reversing a dramatic decline in numbers of a migratory shore bird that some say is headed for extinction.

Environmentalists said the council vote, taken in Batsto, Burlington County, after nearly two hours of appeals by birders and other advocates, further imperils the red knot, which stops every spring on Delaware Bay to refuel on crab eggs.

But Virginia seafood processor Rick Robbins told the council that the Department of Environmental Protection's moratorium was a "remarkably unimaginative solution" and that a small removal of male horseshoe crabs would not have a significant effect on the birds.

The red knot population has declined markedly in the last decade; biologists with the DEP and elsewhere link the decline to a shortage of crab eggs caused by heavy harvesting in the 1990s. The crab is used as bait for eel and conch, which are shipped to Asian food markets.

David Chanda, director of the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife, said he was "very, very disappointed" by the decision, which put the state in a regulatory bind.

State regulations now revert to what they were before the moratorium was passed in 2006. That would allow an annual harvest of 150,000 crabs.

But an interstate regulatory body, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, has imposed a limit of 100,000 crabs, males only.

The seasonal harvest begins in May, when the crabs come onto the beaches to spawn. Chanda said that if the state is not in compliance with ASMFC regulations, that agency could shut down the harvest. But the governor could also declare an emergency moratorium, he said, as has happened.

Chanda said "time will tell" whether the bird, which computer models suggest could be extinct as soon as 2010, will suffer from the decision.

The vote divided along distinct lines within the council - five commercial fishing members voted to veto the extension and four recreational members voted to retain it.

Larry Niles, a former DEP biologist who has advocated for the bird for more than a decade, said he was stunned by the decision. Eric Stiles of New Jersey Audubon vowed, "The upshot of this is we're going to litigate, and we're going to legislate."

More than 100 people filled an auditorium at historic Batsto Village and three police officers stood by, at one point warning an audience member to remain calm as he challenged the procedure.

About 35 people spoke in favor of the moratorium.

Speaking against it were two commercial crabbers, a seafood processor, the head of the Garden State Seafood Association, and a horseshoe crab researcher who has championed a males-only harvest strategy that he says would satisfy both sides.

"I predict in 10 years you'll have people screaming, 'Come clean these stinking horseshoe crabs off my beach,' " said Carl N. Shuster, author of the 2004 book The American Horseshoe Crab.

The same council approved the two-year moratorium. Several members said that this time, they were uncomfortable with the open-ended language.

It would be different, said council member Edward Goldman, a recreational fisherman, "if this was a two-year moratorium or a one-year moratorium." Goldman said he was nevertheless supporting the moratorium because even if it turned out to be the wrong decision in hindsight, "at least the red knots will still be here."

A member representing the commercial fishing industry, Frances Puskas, said she wanted to defer to the interstate commission. It decided last week to devise new regulations.



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Contact staff writer Sandy Bauers at 215-854-5147 or sbauers@phillynews.com.

[boatliftman]

i have followed this closey why has the red knot not been put on the endangered species list with all the hype going around?,BECAUSE its not in danger, go to the west coast there are millions of the frigin things, the science behind it comes from an state funded biologist who also is an enviromental nut, i have seen the research and how it was performed, for instance going to south america and looking for a 6 ounce bird in a helicopter, with no local knowledge of the area at the wrong time and finding no birds, oh no they are almost exstinct. dont get me wrong i am all for conservation but this ordeal about the birds is silly. they have lost sight of what they are trying to do and stagged such a campaign that anyone who hears about it simply takes everything stated as fact and the fishermen suffer. Mark my words this is only the begining once they get thru with this, next it will be keeping people of beaches. dont support this unless you know the true facts about it. If you like to support eviromental groups like this and you fish, hunt boat etc. you are cutting your own throat. the horeshoe crab harvest is so restricted and the quota is so low it is in-signifigant,trust on that. what is really harming the birds anyway is loss of habitat and a avian virus amongest the birds. Do you really think a 6 ounce bird stops only at the jersey and eats only crab eggs then flys to antartica give me a friggin break. enviromental nuts at there best

[boatliftman]

the only people with a problem are the enviromental wackos all state and goverment agencies see no problem even after the enviromental groups made a large push to make it appear the crabs have as much of a role in the birds numbers. the enviromental groups just dont want people to crab so they can claim a political victory,like i said before this is only the begining of what they want to happen the same people are the ones who want to end hunting an fishing in new jersey there have been a couple of crab surveys done and they are at the highest level in 10 years and with a male only harvest there wil be no eggs removed, there are usually 10 males for every female and each male can mate more than once, let the guys make a living its already hard enough for them. when bait eels got to $3 because the guys cant get bait you will really feel it then