S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9842
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 11, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. BURDICK -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Environmental Conservation
 
 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
 reductions  in  Limulus  have  occurred  over  much of its range, but in
 particular within the Mid-Atlantic region. The cause is understood to be
 over-harvest, which has been corrected through active management  inter-
 vention  over much of the range. An assessment of population trend indi-
 cates population stability in the Delaware Bay area of the  Mid-Atlantic
 region  and  population  growth  in  the  Southeast region.   Continuing
 decreases were found in the Great Bay estuary of New  Hampshire  in  the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07610-01-3
              

 A. 9842                             2
 
 Gulf  of  Maine  region,  the  New England and New York areas within the
 Mid-Atlantic region and in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico."
   (c)  Each spring, shorebirds stop at Long Island beaches and feed upon
 horseshoe crab eggs. These include the red  knot,  dunlin,  semipalmated
 sandpiper,  sanderling,  ruddy  turnstone,  greater yellowlegs, American
 golden-plover, black-bellied  plover,  buff-breasted  sandpiper,  short-
 billed  dowitcher,  purple  sandpiper, marbled godwit, Hudsonian godwit,
 and whimbrel.
   (d) 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 have declined by 75 percent
 since the 1980s. Thus, both state and international biologists fear that
 the red knot will become extinct if horseshoe crab populations  continue
 to decline.
   (e)  Horseshoe crabs are keystone species, providing an essential food
 source not only for red knots, but also for many other types of bird and
 fish species important to New York's commercial and recreational fisher-
 ies, as well as birding and fishing tourism. Eels, whelk, catfish, juve-
 nile striped bass, white perch, killifish,  weakfish,  Atlantic  silver-
 sides, bluefish, sand shrimp, blue crabs, spider crabs, and hermit crabs
 all eat horseshoe crab eggs and larvae as part of their diets.
   (f)  The  legislature  therefore  declares that stricter management of
 horseshoe crabs is necessary to ensure that  more  horseshoe  crab  eggs
 will  be available as a food source, thus helping to ensure the survival
 of these shorebirds.
   § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 13-0331 of the  environmental  conserva-
 tion  law, as amended by chapter 447 of the laws of 2017, is amended and
 two new subdivisions 9 and 10 are added to read as follows:
   1. A. No person shall take crabs, including horseshoe  crabs  (Limulus
 sp.)    for  commercial purposes, OR SELL OR POSSESS WITH INTENT TO SELL
 HORSESHOE CRABS FOR  COMMERCIAL  PURPOSES,  without  first  obtaining  a
 permit  from  the  department.  [For  purposes  of  this  subdivision, a
 presumption of "commercial purposes" shall be made wherein one takes  or
 lands more than fifty crabs in any one day or sells or barters or offers
 for  sale  or  barter  any  crabs he or she has taken.] Permits shall be
 issued to individuals only but may be endorsed for use on a  vessel,  in
 which case it shall cover all persons on board such vessel.
   B. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION:
   (I)  A  PRESUMPTION OF "COMMERCIAL PURPOSES" SHALL BE MADE WHEREIN ONE
 TAKES OR LANDS MORE THAN FIFTY CRABS OR MORE THAN FIVE  HORSESHOE  CRABS
 IN  ANY  ONE  DAY  OR  SELLS OR BARTERS OR OFFERS FOR SALE OR BARTER ANY
 CRABS, INCLUDING HORSESHOE CRABS, HE OR SHE HAS TAKEN; AND
   (II) A PRESUMPTION OF POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO  SELL  SHALL  BE  MADE
 WHEREIN  ANY  HORSESHOE  CRABS  ARE  POSSESSED WITHOUT A PERMIT FROM THE
 DEPARTMENT.
   9. A. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF THIS SECTION TO  THE  CONTRARY,
 UNTIL  DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT, NO PERSON SHALL
 TAKE, SELL, OR POSSESS WITH INTENT TO SELL ANY HORSESHOE  CRAB  (LIMULUS
 SP.)  OR  THE EGGS OF ANY HORSESHOE CRAB, EXCEPT PURSUANT TO A HORSESHOE
 CRAB BIO-MEDICAL HARVESTER PERMIT.
   B. ANY PERSON MAY APPLY FOR A HORSESHOE CRAB BIO-MEDICAL HARVESTER  OR
 USER  PERMIT  AND  THE  DEPARTMENT MAY ISSUE SUCH PERMIT UPON A DETERMI-
 NATION THAT THE PERMIT IS FOR A VALID AND NECESSARY BIO-MEDICAL  PURPOSE
 A. 9842                             3
 
 AND  THAT  THE  TAKING OF HORSESHOE CRABS FOR SUCH PURPOSES WILL HAVE NO
 MORE THAN NOMINAL IMPACT TO THE  RED  KNOT,  OTHER  SHOREBIRDS,  OR  THE
 HORSESHOE CRAB POPULATION.
   C. WHEN TAKING HORSESHOE CRABS, A HOLDER OF A HORSESHOE CRAB BIO-MEDI-
 CAL  HARVESTER PERMIT SHALL USE A MANNER OF CATCH AND RELEASE THAT MINI-
 MIZES INJURY TO CRABS, AND SHALL RELEASE ANY TAKEN  CRABS  TO  THE  SAME
 WATERS FROM WHICH THEY WERE TAKEN.
   D.  THE  TAKING  OF  HORSESHOE CRABS INCIDENTALLY DURING LEGAL FISHING
 OPERATIONS DOES NOT VIOLATE THIS SECTION IF SUCH CRABS  ARE  HANDLED  IN
 SUCH  A  MANNER  TO  MINIMIZE  HARM  TO  SUCH  CRABS AND ARE IMMEDIATELY
 RETURNED TO THE SAME WATERS FROM WHICH THEY WERE TAKEN.
   10. A. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL CONDUCT A STUDY TO EXAMINE  AND  DETERMINE
 WHETHER:
   (I) THE POPULATION OF RED KNOTS HAS REACHED RECOVERY TARGETS AS DETER-
 MINED BY THE DEPARTMENT; AND
   (II)  THE  POPULATION  OF  OTHER SHOREBIRDS THAT RELY ON THE HORSESHOE
 CRAB (LIMULUS SP.) OR THE EGGS  OF  THE  HORSESHOE  CRAB  HAVE  REMAINED
 STABLE  OR INCREASED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE DUNLIN, SEMIPAL-
 MATED SANDPIPER, SANDERLING, RUDDY TURNSTONE, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, AMERI-
 CAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, SHORT-
 BILLED DOWITCHER, PURPLE SANDPIPER, MARBLED  GODWIT,  HUDSONIAN  GODWIT,
 AND WHIMBREL; AND
   (III) A FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN DEMONSTRATES THAT AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY
 OF  HORSESHOE  CRAB  EGGS EXISTS TO ENSURE POPULATION VIABILITY FOR BOTH
 SHOREBIRDS AND HORSESHOE CRABS, AS  WELL  AS  A  SUSTAINABLE  COMMERCIAL
 FISHERY, PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION. EVIDENCE THAT SUCH
 A  SUPPLY  OF  EGGS EXISTS MAY INCLUDE TWO CONSECUTIVE STOCK ASSESSMENTS
 FROM THE ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION THAT GRADE THE  NEW
 YORK STATE HORSESHOE CRABS (LIMULUS SP.) POPULATION AS "GOOD."
   B. TO SATISFY THE REQUIREMENTS OF PARAGRAPH A OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE
 DEPARTMENT  MAY  RELY  ON REPORTS AND POPULATION STUDIES COMPILED BY ANY
 STATE OR FEDERAL UNIT OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBLE FOR WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT,
 A LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITY, OR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS  WITH  EXPERTISE  IN
 ORNITHOLOGY.
   C. ON OR BEFORE JUNE THIRTIETH, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT, THE DEPART-
 MENT  SHALL SUBMIT A REPORT OF ITS FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDA-
 TIONS TO THE GOVERNOR AND TO THE LEGISLATURE WITH REGARD  TO  THE  STUDY
 CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH A OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
 have become a law; provided, however, that  subdivision  10  of  section
 13-0331  of  the environmental conservation law, as added by section two
 of this act, shall expire and be deemed repealed on January 1, 2029.