Fate of the horseshoe crab
Although the horseshoe crab has lived for millions and millions of years, outliving the dinosaurs, its recent sharp decline is testimony to the fear that the crabs are at risk of extinction. Their shrinking numbers are attributed to loss of beaches for nesting, overharvesting and being used for bait to catch eels and conchs.
Horseshoe crabs used as bait support multimillion dollar conch and American-eel fisheries. In the Delaware Bay alone, watermen received up to 50 percent of their total fishing income from conch or eel harvests.
A reduction in horseshoe crabs would also mean fewer eggs for the shorebirds to eat, which would deprive them of the energy they need to make it to the Arctic, thereby sealing their fate as well.