Post by Steve Sutton on Jul 2, 2010 10:08:40 GMT -5
Survival of horseshoe crabs after being bled for medical research and
then released back into coastal waters is the focus of a two-year tagging
study by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and funded by the S.C. Sea
Grant Consortium. The tags are supplied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
To date 1,600 crabs have been tagged and released, and the public is
urged to report tagged crabs through the toll free number printed on the
white button tag attached to the shell.
For years these primitive animals have been captured on state beaches
and transported to medical research facilities where a portion of their
unique blue blood is extracted and used to make Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate,
which is widely used to test for bacterial endotoxin contamination in human
intravenous drugs and medical devices.
"We hope that tag reports over several years will demonstrate if
biomedical bleeding is having a detrimental effect on horseshoe crab
populations," said Larry DeLancey, S.C. Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) biologist, who added that these animals are thought to be increasing
in the Southeast.
About 100,000 horseshoe crabs are captured annually by licensed
fishermen and taken to research facilities. Long-term survival rates of the
crabs released after being bled is not known.
Not actually crabs but more closely related to spiders, these harmless
animals spawn on state beaches every spring and their eggs are a vital food
source for migrating shorebirds, many species of which have declined in
recent years.
A recently completed study of 100 bled and tagged horseshoe crabs held
in a pond at DNR's Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton had a survival
rate of almost 90 percent, DeLancey said, noting the survival rate of crabs
released into the wild might be different.
A separate study is assessing the economic impact of the horseshoe
crab fishery on local commercial fishermen. Horseshoe crabs are protected by
South Carolina law and the crabs, as well as their shell, cannot be taken
unless by permit.
South Carolina's natural resources are essential for economic
development and contribute nearly $30 billion and 230,000 jobs to the
state's economy overall. Find out more at: www.dnr.sc.gov/green/index.html.
then released back into coastal waters is the focus of a two-year tagging
study by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and funded by the S.C. Sea
Grant Consortium. The tags are supplied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
To date 1,600 crabs have been tagged and released, and the public is
urged to report tagged crabs through the toll free number printed on the
white button tag attached to the shell.
For years these primitive animals have been captured on state beaches
and transported to medical research facilities where a portion of their
unique blue blood is extracted and used to make Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate,
which is widely used to test for bacterial endotoxin contamination in human
intravenous drugs and medical devices.
"We hope that tag reports over several years will demonstrate if
biomedical bleeding is having a detrimental effect on horseshoe crab
populations," said Larry DeLancey, S.C. Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) biologist, who added that these animals are thought to be increasing
in the Southeast.
About 100,000 horseshoe crabs are captured annually by licensed
fishermen and taken to research facilities. Long-term survival rates of the
crabs released after being bled is not known.
Not actually crabs but more closely related to spiders, these harmless
animals spawn on state beaches every spring and their eggs are a vital food
source for migrating shorebirds, many species of which have declined in
recent years.
A recently completed study of 100 bled and tagged horseshoe crabs held
in a pond at DNR's Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton had a survival
rate of almost 90 percent, DeLancey said, noting the survival rate of crabs
released into the wild might be different.
A separate study is assessing the economic impact of the horseshoe
crab fishery on local commercial fishermen. Horseshoe crabs are protected by
South Carolina law and the crabs, as well as their shell, cannot be taken
unless by permit.
South Carolina's natural resources are essential for economic
development and contribute nearly $30 billion and 230,000 jobs to the
state's economy overall. Find out more at: www.dnr.sc.gov/green/index.html.