A proposal to allow the harvesting of female horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay for the first time in ten years has been rejected by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The female horseshoe crab eggs are an important part of the food chain for migratory shore birds, including the federally protected red knot.
Conservationists argued that allowing the restart of a female horseshoe crab harvest would have a detrimental impact on the birds.
The commission did maintain a 500-thousand harvest limit for male horseshoe crabs.
The creature, known as a living fossil, is used for bait in the fishing industry and its unique blood is used in biomedical research.
