News Archives

The following are brief synopses of recent articles, press releases and information pertaining to the horseshoe crab, ERDG, and conservation issues.

Horseshoe Crabs in the Americas

04/26/22

Despite Mortality Concerns, Horseshoe Crab Blood Facility Gets Permit

Massachusetts: Despite concerns raised about the potential “decimation” of the horseshoe crab population, the planning board unanimously approved a special permit for Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. to establish a facility to extract blood from the ancient arthropods for biomedical uses.
The Wilmington-based company was before the board on April 12 seeking a land use special permit to conduct scientific research and development from a leased building at 195 Queen Anne Rd. in the town’s industrial zoning district. download the pdf.

01/20/22

Charles River Labs & the South Carolina Horseshoe Crab Harvest

South Carolina: Blue blood from horseshoe crabs has helped make vaccines safe for years, but experts say the multinational company harvesting the crabs in South Carolina is misleading the public about its environmental impact and the synthetic alternatives that exist. download the pdf.

 

Horseshoe Crabs in Asia

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

12/02/20

Conservation of Asian Horseshoe Crabs on Spotlight

Asia: Unlike the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), whose fishery and harvest are well monitored and managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the conservation of Asian species, i.e., the tri-spine horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus), the coastal horseshoe crab (T. gigas) and the mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda), is a more formidable challenge, due to the intricacies of regional laws and inconsistent enforcement (John et al. 2018). download the pdf.

 

Horseshoe Crabs in Europe

08/19/19

Blue-Blooded Crabs at Heart of Pharma Dispute on Drug Testing

Zurich: Swiss biotech Lonza and U.S.-based Charles River Laboratories are the biggest suppliers of crab blood-based endotoxin tests, which detect bacterial contamination in intravenous drugs and medical implants. They are now at odds over the future of this testing, as Lonza urges adoption of a synthetic alternative called recombinant Factor C (rFC), amid pressure from wildlife campaigners and worries about supply reliability. Meanwhile, Charles River, which is still studying rFC, argues moving too quickly could compromise patient safety. download the pdf.

07/26/17

König Galerie, Berlin is presenting “400 Million Years Ago” by Danish artist Tue Greenfort.

Germany: This exhibition presents three new groups of Tue Greenfort’s works that evolve around processes of the natural world, discourses of ecology and notions of the environment, while the horseshoe crab figures as a theme to the exhibition’s perspective on human and non-human agency. download the pdf.

ERDG in the News

October 18, 2022

Nominees Announced for World’s Leading Animal Conservation Award

ERDG’s founder and president Glenn Gauvry, is one of 51 global leaders in the field of conservation nominated for the 2023 Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation. The 2023 Indianapolis Prize marks nearly two decades of celebrating wildlife’s greatest champions. More

July 17, 2022

International Horseshoe Crab Conservation and Research Efforts: 2007- 2020 Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs Species Globally

USA: The first International Conference on Horseshoe Crab’s Conservation conducted at Dowling College, USA, (2007) and it’s proceedings published by Springer in 2009, prompted the continued research and conservation efforts presented at subsequent conferences and colloquium in Hong Kong, Taiwan, (2011); San Diego, CA, (2014), (CERF); Japan, Sasebo (2015) and an accepted inclusion for a special session on Horseshoe Crabs at the 2017 CERF Conference held in Providence, RI, USA. All these aforementioned conferences contributed manuscripts, posters, workshop “position papers”, and oral presentations the majority of which have not been published in total. In 2015, Carmichael et al. had published by Springer the majority of manuscripts from the 2011 Hong Kong / Taiwan conference. However, workshop results and all subsequent presentations and workshops were not. The Japan conference presented over 40 papers alone. A collection of all workshop summaries, poster presentations and new manuscript submittals (San Diego, CA; Sasebo, Japan; and Providence, RI) as well as products prepared for the IUCN World Congress in Hawaii, (2016), are included potential contributions for review in this compilation now available for global distribution in this Springer Nature publication.
The “Proceedings of International Conferences on the Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs”, thus contains over 50 manuscripts and a diversified collection of documents, photos and memorabilia covering all four of the horseshoe crab species globally: their biology, ecology evolution, educational, and societal importance. This book exposes the impacts that humans have imposed on all four of these species, revealing through the coordinated effort of horseshoe crab scientists with the IUCN, of the worldwide need for a clear conservative effort to protect these paleo- survival organisms from a looming extinction event. Biologists, conservationists, educators, and health professionals will all welcome this book not only for exploration of its pharmacological interest, but also for the mystery of their longevity. This book also clarifies the future research needs and the conservation agenda for the species worldwide. Anyone working or studying estuaries on a global scale, will need to obtain this seminal work on horseshoe crabs.

May 4, 2022

Lost Wax for Lost Species

United Kingdom: ERDG is honored to have been included in the Lost-Wax for Lost-Species inititive, that brought together over 100 artists to collectively make a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of endangered species. Each artist worked with natural modelling wax sent around the UK during the global pandemic, and came together through this creative act to raise awareness of endangered species. The sculptures are featured in a growing digital archive alongside information about our endangered kin around the world. An auction was also held, with the proceeds distributed to various wildlife conservation organizations dedicated to the conservation of these species. To learn more about this wonderful initiative and see the the beautiful works of art it inspired, go to Kinstinct Arts.