U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Evaluation of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Horseshoe Crab-Red Knot Adaptive Resource Management Revision

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board has accepted for use the 2021 Revision of the Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework that sets harvest levels for Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs, an important food source for migratory shorebirds. The Service has conducted an analysis of the changes to the management of horseshoe crabs under the revised ARM to determine the likelihood of impacts to the red knot. The result of this analysis is that there is a less than 1-percent chance of a red knot population decline due to the implementation of potential female harvest under the revised ARM. Based on this analysis, the Service concludes that take, defined under the Endangered Species Act as killing or injuring, of red knots is not likely.