by Priscilla Feral
It’s alarming that the commissioner of Connecticut’s wildlife agency’s written testimony submitted during a Feb. 25 public hearing for HB5140, a ban on the hand-harvesting of horseshoe crabs from our state’s shorelines, showed more concern about inconveniencing 15 licensed, commercial bait fishermen than protecting horseshoe crabs from extinction.
And what a punch in the gut that the National Audubon Society never mentioned how killing horseshoe crabs negatively impacts migratory birds.
Thankfully, the Connecticut Audubon Society cares about the state’s ecosystems and supports HB5140, which is being championed by state Rep. Joe Gresko (D-Stratford), who also led the charge to get a ban passed in Stratford after Westbrook, West Haven and Milford were declared no-kill zones by the Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission, which oversees management of the species on the East Coast.