Senate Bill S48A

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to the management of horseshoe crabs; and provides for the repeal of certain provisions of such law upon expiration thereof

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

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Bill Amendments

2019-S48 - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:
Environmental Conservation Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §13-0331, En Con L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2015-2016: S4832
2017-2018: S62
2021-2022: S684
2023-2024: S3185

2019-S48 - Summary

Relates to the management of horseshoe crabs; and provides for the repeal of certain provisions of such law upon expiration thereof.

2019-S48 - Sponsor Memo

2019-S48 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    48
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 9, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
 
 AN ACT to impose a moratorium upon the taking of horseshoe crabs and the
   eggs thereof; to direct the department of  environmental  conservation
   to  study  and  report  on the populations of shorebirds and horseshoe
   crabs; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration
   thereof
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Legislative  findings.  The legislature hereby finds that
 each spring more than one million shorebirds of six  species,  including
 the  red  knot, stop at Long Island beaches and feed upon horseshoe crab
 eggs.  The red knot was once considered one of the state's most abundant
 shorebirds. Horseshoe crab eggs are a critical source of  food  for  red
 knots  which  they  consume during their stopover in New York. Such food
 source is necessary for the red  knots  to  gain  sufficient  weight  to
 continue  their  migration  north  to  breeding  grounds in the Canadian
 Arctic.  Surveys have shown that red knots migrating through  the  state
 declined  by  65  percent since 2000. Thus, both state and international
 biologists fear that the red knot will become extinct in as few as  five
 years.
   The  legislature  therefore declares that a moratorium on the harvest,
 landing, taking and possession of horseshoe crabs would help ensure that
 more horseshoe crab eggs will be available as a food source, thus  help-
 ing to ensure the survival of these shorebirds.
   §  2.  (a)  Notwithstanding  the  provisions of section 13-0331 of the
 environmental conservation law or any other provision of law, no  person
 shall take any horseshoe crab (Limulus sp.) or the eggs of any horseshoe
 crab  from  the  waters  or land of the state, nor possess any horseshoe
 crab or the eggs of a horseshoe crab, regardless of the origin thereof.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

2019-S48A (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:
Environmental Conservation Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §13-0331, En Con L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2015-2016: S4832
2017-2018: S62
2021-2022: S684
2023-2024: S3185

2019-S48A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the management of horseshoe crabs; and provides for the repeal of certain provisions of such law upon expiration thereof.

2019-S48A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S48A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   48--A
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 9, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
   -- recommitted to  the  Committee  on  Environmental  Conservation  in
   accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
   management of horseshoe crabs; and providing for the repeal of certain
   provisions of such law upon expiration thereof
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings.  The legislature hereby finds that:
   (a) The horseshoe crab stock assessments issued by the Atlantic States
 Marine  Fisheries  Commission  (ASMFC)  for  the  New  York  region have
 declined since 2009, when the population was graded as "good". The  2013
 stock assessment graded the population as neutral, and in the 2019 stock
 assessment,  the  Commission downgraded the status of the horseshoe crab
 population in New York State to "poor". Stock status was  based  on  the
 proportion  of  surveys  above or below the 1998 reference points estab-
 lished when ASMFC management of horseshoe crabs began. In the 2019 stock
 assessment, the ASMFC states that, "Continued declines in abundance were
 evident in the New York  and  New  England  regions.  Decreased  harvest
 quotas  in  Delaware  Bay  have potentially redirected harvest to nearby
 regions. Current harvest within the New England and New York regions may
 not be sustainable.  Continued  precautionary  management  is  therefore
 recommended coast-wide to anticipate effects of redirecting harvest from
 Delaware Bay to outlying populations."
   (b)  The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has
 also determined that the horseshoe crab meets the Red List criteria  and
 is   vulnerable  to  local  extinction.  The  IUCN  stated,  "Population
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

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