11/13/21

Associates of Cape Cod Inc. Announces the Release of its One Millionth Horseshoe Crab From its Species Sustainability Project

Massachusetts: ACC proudly announces that it has achieved the release of its millionth juvenile horseshoe crab to the wild, as a result of its species sustainability project. The program is the first of its kind to release ecologically significant numbers of North American Horseshoe Crabs (NAHSC); it was initiated by the company in 2017 in the US and expanded into Asia in 2019, with a goal of enhancing the sustainability of crab populations that are so vital to local ecosystems as well as to the manufacture of Bacterial Endotoxin Test (BET) reagents that utilize a raw material found in crab blood. ACC’s reagents are used worldwide in pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, compounding pharmacy and dialysis industries for quality control, product release and research.

05/25/21

Judge Bans Horseshoe Crab Harvesting Near Charleston SC

South Carolina: A federal judge has prohibited the harvest of horseshoe crabs in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge near Charleston. The new order was expected to restrict the operations of a Massachusetts-based biomedical company, Charles River Laboratories, that for almost 30 years has purchased tens of thousands of the animals from fishermen who collect them on the refuge and other spots along the S.C. coast. download the pdf.

Tags: horseshoe crab conservation

02/12/21

Why Does SC Lab Bleed Horseshoe Crabs for Vaccine Testing?

South Carolina: Charles River, the only company permitted to purchase the animals in South Carolina, is after their blood. Copper-based and colored light blue, the fluid that runs through their hard bodies is exceptionally good at detecting a bacterial toxin that can cause organ failure or death in humans. For almost 30 years in a facility in Charleston, Charles River has bled the horseshoe crabs, then sold a test for contaminants using the blue blood called LAL, named after the species that lives along the Atlantic, Limulus polyphemus. download the pdf.

05/16/21

A Program for Implementing Effective Regional conservation actions for the Asian Horseshoe Crabs

China: Present declines in Asian horseshoe crabs are primarily attributed to overharvesting and habitat loss. The IUCN SSC Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group (HCSG) jointly with Beibu Gulf University, China, has established an observation network to bridge explicit baseline gaps in Asian horseshoe crab conservation. Learn More

Tags: Horseshoecrabs

05/16/21

A Program for Implementing Effective Regional conservation actions for the Asian Horseshoe Crabs

China: Present declines in Asian horseshoe crabs are primarily attributed to overharvesting and habitat loss. The IUCN SSC Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group (HCSG) jointly with Beibu Gulf University, China, has established an observation network to bridge explicit baseline gaps in Asian horseshoe crab conservation. Learn More

Tags: Horseshoecrabs

04/03/21

Help for Asian Horseshoe Crabs Could Start With a Substitute for Their Blood

Asia: There, biomedical companies rent horseshoe crabs to bleed from industrial suppliers, says Glenn Gauvry, president of Ecological Research & Development Group, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Dover, Delaware. “If they survive, they are sold as food. If they die, they are ground up for fertilizer or Traditional Chinese Medicine,” he says. “The whole animal is used. It’s not going back to the wild.” download the pdf.

Tags: BET, rFC