How Birds Lose
Red Knot in Madison
Did you watch the PBS Nature special "Crash" about Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knots?
Here's an update:
"New Jersey regulators have rejected a ban on horseshoe crab harvesting intended to protect migratory birds that feed on the crabs' eggs. The 5-4 vote Monday by the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council dealt a blow to environmentalists and state environmental officials who warn the birds, called red knots, could soon go extinct."
Link: Full Article from PressofAtlanticCity.com
Link: How you can help save the Red Knot
Red Knot © 2008 Mike McDowell
posted by Mike McDowell @ 3:57 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Well, they had a chance to help the situation and they failed...wait 'til the Crab population gets REALLY low, then they will be forced to do something, hopefully it won't be too late.
I did see it. It pained me to the core. I've been compiling a list in my head of animals that are already past the point of saving. It's far too long already & the "powers that be" are only concerned with keeping their wallets plump. When does the revolution start? <:(
What a sad vote that New Jersey dealt the Red Knot and the Horseshoe Crab. The documentary ended stating that the fate of the Red Knot is in our hands. New Jersey has let them down. It was stated in the last 5 years the population of Red Knots is down over 70 percent. It was truly sickening to watch the researchers looking for the Red Knots who made the migration to the Arctic.....there were none to be found.
It really is almost too late..which makes the New Jersey vote all the more frightening. Maybe all those with a vote should be required to hold those birds in their hands as the researchers did in the documentary. Maybe then they would reconsider how they vote, before they contribute to wiping out the Horseshoe Crab in the name of fishing and "progress" - this crab that survived over 350 million years. Not only will their decrease wipe out the Red Knots but certainly we as humans will also be negatively affected when we can't get access to their blue blood which is so vital to us medically. Too little too late? If New Jersey is any indication, the answer, sadly, is yes.
On a bright note, Delaware has enforced a fishing ban and closed their beaches during the critical time of the Red Knot migration. Too bad New Jersey couldn't follow their lead.
If you didn't get a chance to see this show, find someone with a tape/TIVO of it and watch - then pass it on to everyone you know! The documentary stated an international effort is needed to stop this extinction....let the U.S. not be the weak link in this process!
Personally, the next full moon, I will indeed be thinking of the Horseshoe Crab and that little bird called the Red Knot....
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