KEYNOTE SPEAKER
ABOUT
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Dr Dave SMITH
Emeritus Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey Environmental Biology Graduate Program, Hood College Maryland, USA Dave Smith is an emeritus scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, an adjunct faculty member in the Environmental Biology Graduate Program at Hood College in Maryland, USA, and a Fellow in the Society of Decision Professionals. His primary focus has been applying quantitative ecology and decision analysis to translate environmental science into effective policy. During his career, he has worked on various species, including horseshoe crabs. Dave recognizes that successful conservation combines scientific knowledge with stakeholders’ values to find durable and effective conservation strategies.
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ABSTRACT
Population Status and Recovery of the American Horseshoe Crab
The range of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) extends from Maine, USA, to the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, encompassing over 52,000 km of shoreline with significant regional variation in ecology, abundance, threats, and management.
In this talk, I summarize:
• the advancement in management and monitoring over recent decades,
• the current population status throughout the species’ range, and
• the potential future status and recovery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
I review published literature and recent assessments on regional population status and trends. I highlight the Green Status Assessment (GSA) results regarding the species’ future status and recovery potential. I also describe the role of citizen science and advocacy in horseshoe crab management.
RESULTS
Population monitoring surveys, including agency and citizen science, now occur in many key areas. The monitoring data feed into peer-reviewed assessments of Atlantic coast populations on a four-year cycle to regulate harvest. However, the populations of the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatán are not routinely assessed. The LAL industry has developed best practices to minimize mortality, but their adoption is voluntary, and the practices vary among states. In 2019, population status was assessed in the Atlantic coast regions as stable or increasing, except in the New York area. Recent trends from key areas confirm the current status. States continue to review and revise regulations. The GSA confirmed a heavy dependence on harvest management but revealed an inadequate focus on habitat protection.
CONCLUSION
In the late 1990s, conservation advocates sounded the alarm about overharvesting and raised the profile of horseshoe crab management. In response, science-based conservation of the American horseshoe crab has advanced remarkably over the past two decades. While near-term threats are increasingly understood and controllable, recovery potential is constrained by the long-term effects of coastal development and climate change, which are uncertain and difficult to mitigate at the spatial scale necessary to ensure ecologically functional populations throughout the species’ range.
In this talk, I summarize:
• the advancement in management and monitoring over recent decades,
• the current population status throughout the species’ range, and
• the potential future status and recovery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
I review published literature and recent assessments on regional population status and trends. I highlight the Green Status Assessment (GSA) results regarding the species’ future status and recovery potential. I also describe the role of citizen science and advocacy in horseshoe crab management.
RESULTS
Population monitoring surveys, including agency and citizen science, now occur in many key areas. The monitoring data feed into peer-reviewed assessments of Atlantic coast populations on a four-year cycle to regulate harvest. However, the populations of the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatán are not routinely assessed. The LAL industry has developed best practices to minimize mortality, but their adoption is voluntary, and the practices vary among states. In 2019, population status was assessed in the Atlantic coast regions as stable or increasing, except in the New York area. Recent trends from key areas confirm the current status. States continue to review and revise regulations. The GSA confirmed a heavy dependence on harvest management but revealed an inadequate focus on habitat protection.
CONCLUSION
In the late 1990s, conservation advocates sounded the alarm about overharvesting and raised the profile of horseshoe crab management. In response, science-based conservation of the American horseshoe crab has advanced remarkably over the past two decades. While near-term threats are increasingly understood and controllable, recovery potential is constrained by the long-term effects of coastal development and climate change, which are uncertain and difficult to mitigate at the spatial scale necessary to ensure ecologically functional populations throughout the species’ range.
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