09/02/10
New Hope for a Restored Jamaica Bay
New York: Sprawling across southern Queens and Brooklyn is Jamaica Bay, a wildlife refuge smack in the middle of one of the world’s largest cities. With its breathtaking views of green marshland and glimmering water set against the backdrop of New York’s urban landscape, it is the seeming image of peaceful coexistence between man and nature. However, years of abuse from over development and neglect have left the bay’s days numbered. download the pdf.
08/31/10
Climate Change Plays Unlucky for Horseshoe Crabs
US: Horseshoe crab populations are declining across the entire East Coast, from Maine to Florida, and are triggering a domino-effect among the larger animals that prey on them. Already, researchers are observing marked decreases in shore bird populations, especially the red knot bird and loggerhead sea turtles, two species that commonly feast on the crabs. Human activity, from overfishing to population booms along shorelines, have been blamed for recent drops in the number of American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus). A new study in the journal Molecular Biology suggests that climate change may also play a significant role. download the pdf.
07/20/10
Local Teenager Wins International Young Eco Hero Award
Maryland: Alexander James Zerphy, aged 13, a resident of Annapolis, MD, is a winner of Action For Nature’s 2010 International Young Eco-Hero Award. Zerphy is being honored for educating the public about the urgent need to protect the Atlantic horseshoe crab, and for connecting people with nature. Read more »
07/20/10
Coastal Bays Shorelines Work Best When They’re Alive
Maryland: If you’ve got short little legs like a diamondback terrapin or a horseshoe crab, you can’t scale or shimmy up bulkhead or riprap. But you can crawl onto a sandy, natural beach to deposit your eggs. Maryland’s state reptile, the diamondback terrapin, lays its eggs along the sandy shorelines of local brackish waters. Horseshoe crabs do, too. The coastal bays, located behind Ocean City and Assateague Island, provide prime nesting habitat for these aquatic animals. However, these critical nesting areas are at risk. download the pdf.
07/15/10
Horseshoe Crab Decline ‘Alarming’
Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts graduate student Sarah Martinez is careful about drawing non-scientific conclusions about her horseshoe crab research. But, after four years doing population surveys onthese dinosaur-age survivors, Martinez, who hails from Yarmouth, can’t help herself. download the pdf.
05/02/10
From Cod to Conch- How the Fisheries Have Shifted Focus Over The Past Twenty-Five Years
Massachusetts: Jimmy Morgan fished from the Mary and Verna for almost forty years out of Menemsha. In July 2008, there tired fisherman was featured in the magazine, which has covered recreational and commercial fishing regularly through the years. Way back when Janet Messineo used to wait tables in Vineyard restaurants, calamari was never on the menu. And sushi? Who’d ever heard of sushi? And twenty-five years ago, when this magazine began, fishermen could still harpoon swordfish in Vineyard waters. The great collapse of cod stocks had not happened. Few of us had even heard of global warming, let alone anticipated its potential to devastate our lobster fishery. Who thought conch fishing would become a major industry? Who thought “trash” species like the horseshoe crab would need a management plan for protection? Yes, a great deal has changed in the past quarter century: what we harvest from the sea, what we eat of it, what we do with the rest, what’s still out there, and what is no longer out there. download the pdf.
04/25/10
From New York Harbor’s Depths, Muck to Restore Islands in Jamaica Bay
New York: For generations, the islands of Jamaica Bay, the 26-square-mile natural sanctuary off theBrooklyn and Queens shoreline that is home to hundreds of species of migratory birds and marine life, have been disappearing, victims of environmental neglect. download the pdf.
04/23/10
Fishermen Feud Over Horseshoe Crab Protection
Massachusetts: Ancient crabs spawn during full moon in May, June. Among all the species taken by fishermen in this part of the world, horseshoe crabs have, until now, enjoyed a dubious distinction: they were the only ones targeted while in the act of reproducing. The easiest way for many to catch them was to walk the beaches at the times of the full and new moons in May and June and simply pick them up as they came into the shallows to spawn. Not anymore though. As of this year, new regulations will stop the practice. For five days around each full and new moon, they will be left undisturbed as they sow future generations of themselves. A new minimum size limit also has been established. download the pdf.
04/08/10
Wildlife And Progress Return To Jamaica Bay
New York: A few years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and partnering agencies restored Elders Point East, a marsh island in Jamaica Bay that had been deteriorating. Last summer, Melissa Alvarez, a senior project biologist with the Army Corps’ New York District, made a few interesting discoveries while inspecting the island. “I saw movement in the water as the tide was draining one of the creeks,” Alvarez said. “I looked closer and saw something I’ve never seen — there were dozens of juvenile horseshoe crabs swimming within the tidal creek. They were the size of a quarter, but this meant so much more. It means that the restored island is now providing successful breeding for horseshoe crabs.” download the pdf.
03/27/10
State Agency Wants Help Counting Horseshoe Crabs On South Florida Beaches
Florida: State wildlife biologists are asking the public this weekend to do a little peeping in the name of science: They want people to find horseshoe crabs caught spawning at local beaches. download the pdf.
03/27/10
5-Day Crab Closures Each New And Full Moon In May and June
Massachusetts: Beginning this season, horseshoe crab rules will be amended to increase protection of mature and spawning crabs and to minimize the chances of local stock depletion. Director Paul Diodati and the Marine FisheriesAdvisory Commission approved new conservation measures to go into effect on April 16 for the upcoming season: download the pdf.
02/05/10
ASMFC Horseshoe Crab Stock Assessment Overview
US: This document summarizes the 2009 benchmark stock assessment for horseshoe crab, and the multi-species Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) framework. The horseshoe crab assessment and ARM framework were evaluated by an independent pane of scientific experts through the Commission’s External Peer Review process. The horseshoe crab assessment represents the most recent and best information on the status of horseshoe crab stocks for use in fisheries management, and the ARM framework provides guidance for the multi-species management of horseshoe crab and red knot in the Delaware Bay. download the pdf.
01/28/10
Judge OKs Delaware River Dredging
Delaware: It’s a go for deepening the Delaware River shipping channel an additional 5 feet. U.S. District Judge Sue L. Robinson in Wilmington yesterday denied Delaware’s request to block the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers from starting the 102.5-mile deepening, in a stretch of water off Delaware. download the pdf.
07/13/10
Best Wildlife Hot Spots in Singapore
Singapore: Most people know Singapore as a busy and modern concrete jungle. But Singapore is also home to incredibly rich diversity of fauna and flora because of its geographical location. Singapore is home to more than 300 species of birds, roughly 60 species of mammals, at least 100 species of reptiles and 28 species of amphibians. download the pdf.
01/30/10
A Thai Village With A Passion For Food
Thailand: Two stalls by the estuary in a fishing village just to the north of Cha-Am in Thailand will delight any chef or seafood lover. download the pdf.
01/15/10
Recreational Fishing Lands New Business Opportunities
Taiwan: The rise of tourism as a key industry in Taiwan is bringing new hope to the country’s commercial fishing population, who are turning to recreational fishing for an economic turnaround. download the pdf.
New Jersey: The Ecological Research and Development Group’s “Young Voices 2010, Horseshoe Crabs in the Arts” exhibition continues in the center’s Todd building, featuring youthful renderings of the horseshoe crab from around the world. download the pdf.
United Kingdom: Professor Harry Whittington, who died on June 20 aged 94, was the former Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge and the world’s leading authority on fossil trilobites; in later life he led painstaking research which revealed a “Cambrian explosion” and raised disturbing questions about the processes of evolution. download the pdf.
Delaware: Migrating shorebirds discovered more horseshoe crab eggs on the beach this year than they have in many years, and it’s also good news for horseshoe crabs, whose numbers are increasing in Delaware waters. download the pdf.
Delaware: Ceremonial robes billowed in the breeze as about 70 Buddhists from Canada to North Carolina, gathered in this tiny waterfront village on Saturday to pray for the humble horseshoe crab. download the pdf.
Delaware: As she jogs the beach, Karen Allwood flips stranded crabs. download the pdf.
Delaware: Leonard I. Rippa “Len” 82, of Smyrna, Delaware passed away February 22nd, 2010. Len served on the Executive Board of the Ecological Research and Development Group (ERDG) since its inception in 1995. His compassion and wisdom will be greatly missed. download pdf.