The 2023 report of the red knot spring stopover in Delaware Bay is in. Encouragingly, the red knot count reached the highest number since 2019, reversing an ominous downward trend. However, to the disappointment of those hoping to witness the wonder of red knot migration in Delaware, nearly all the red knots counted this year were in New Jersey. Of the 22,000 red knots observed, only 2,200 were seen on the Delaware side of the bay. This is a significant departure from previous years, when red knots appeared in approximately equal numbers on both sides of the bay.
Congratulations to Dr. Larry Niles, the American Littoral Society, and the entire New Jersey team for its successful work in helping red knots recover from a dangerous decline, caused by years of horseshoe crab exploitation by the fishing industry. The exploitation caused the disappearance of horseshoe crab eggs on Delaware Bay beaches during the critical period they are needed by red knots. This high-nutrition food source is essential to fueling their 19,000-mile migration to their Arctic breeding grounds. The absence of this critical food source directly affects red knot survival.
This year's count demonstrates the success of New Jersey's policies. In addition to closing some beaches during migration season and repairing breaches of dunes, New Jersey prohibits the bait harvest of horseshoe crabs, thanks to moratorium legislation enacted in 2008. Delaware, on the other hand, continues to authorize a bait harvest. Its bait harvest has never been interrupted, in spite of the precipitous decline of both the horseshoe crab and red knot following the years of unregulated overharvest during the 1990s.
Joining New Jersey and South Carolina, Connecticut now prohibits the bait harvest of horseshoe crabs. A bill to ban the harvest of horseshoe crabs passed unanimously this year in both houses of Connecticut's General Assembly, and was just signed by the governor.
Since Delaware Bay is home to the world's largest concentration of horseshoe crabs, the State of Delaware has an outsized role in protecting the horseshoe crab and the many wildlife species dependent on it, including the red knot. In 2024, elected officials will be engaged in an effort to have Delaware join the other Atlantic Coast states that ban the bait harvest of horseshoe crabs. A ban of Delaware's bait harvest is long overdue.
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