Horseshoe Crab Management

(1) Purpose. The Division of Marine Fisheries manages horseshoe crabs in compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Horseshoe Crabs. Additionally, DMF manages local horseshoe crab populations to ensure the resource is available for current and future generations for use as a commercial fishery resource, in biomedical applications, for education and scientific research, and to provide cultural and ecological services. This requires the Division of Marine Fisheries control harvest and mortality across all fisheries and provide for spawning opportunities. (2) Definitions. Asian Horseshoe Crab means those species of horseshoe crab identified as Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, Tachypleus gigas and Tachypleus tridentatus. Bait Fishery Quota means the total annual allowable harvest of horseshoe crabs for the bait fishery to be established by the Division of Marine Fisheries. Biomedical Fisher means any person who has been issued a special biomedical horseshoe crab harvest permit by the Director in accordance with 322 CMR 7.01(4)(f) allowing the retention, possession, and landing of horseshoe crabs for biomedical or research purposes and direct sale to a biomedical dealer or biomedical processor or research institution authorized by the Director to conduct biomedical or research activities. Biomedical Dealer means any person or entity, permitted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(3), who has a contractual relationship with a biomedical processor and authorized at 322 CMR 7.07: Dealers Acting as Primary Buyers to conduct a primary purchase of horseshoe crabs from a biomedical fisher. Biomedical Processor means any person or entity, permitted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(3) and authorized by the Director to process horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes. Biomedical Processor Quota means the total annual allowable harvest of horseshoe crabs for biomedical processing in Massachusetts assigned by the Division in equal shares to each permitted biomedical processor. Cape Cod National Seashore means that area of land and waters located in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Chatham under the control of the United States Department of the Interior's National Park Service pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 459b. Commercial Fisher means any person permitted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(2) to participate in the commercial bait fishery for horseshoe crabs and retain, possess, and land horseshoe crabs for purpose of sale, barter, or exchange or any person who keeps for personal or family use any horseshoe crab taken under the authority of said permit. Director means the Director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Division means the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Horseshoe Crab means the species known as Limulus polyphemus. Land means to transfer or attempt to transfer the catch of horseshoe crabs from any vessel to any other vessel or onto any land, pier, ramp, wharf, dock or other artificial structure, or for a fishing vessel with any horseshoe crabs onboard to tie-up to any pier, wharf, dock, or artificial structure. Mobile Gear means any moveable gear or encircling fishing gear or nets, which are towed, hauled or dragged through the water for the harvest of fish. This includes, but is not limited to, pair trawls, otter trawls, beam trawls, mid-water trawls, Scottish seines, pair seines, purse seines or shellfish dredges. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge means that area of lands and waters located in Chatham under the control of the United States Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. The boundaries thereof are described in the October 30, 2015 Notice of Availability for the MonomoyNational Wildlife Refuge Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement at 80 F.R. 66928; published in the March 2016 Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan; and first established in 1944 via the Declaration of the Taking filed by the Department of the Interior with the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Primary Purchase means the first commercial transaction by sale, barter, or exchange of horseshoe crabs after its harvest. Total Mortalitymeans the number of horseshoe crabs harvested in the biomedical horseshoe crab fishery that died during harvest, handling, transportation, storage, penning, processing, and release. Trawl means a fishing practice that herds or captures target species by towing a net through the ocean. Trip means that period of time that begins when a fishing vessel departs from a dock, berth, beach, seawall, ramp or port to carry out commercial fishing operations and that ends with a return to a dock, berth seawall, ramp or port. Trip Limit means the maximum lawful amount of horseshoe crabs that a commercial fisher or biomedical fisher may retain, possess, or land within the Commonwealth or sell, barter or exchange or offer for sale barter or exchange. Trip limits apply per trip or per calendar day, whichever period of time is longer and are applied to the vessel named on the commercial fishing permit regardless of the number of commercial fishing permits or letters of authorization carried on board the vessel. (3) General Restrictions. (a) Non-commercial Possession Limit. It shall be unlawful for anyperson to retain, possess, or land more than six horseshoe crabs per day, unless authorized at 322 CMR 6.34(4) or 322 CMR 6.34(5). Any horseshoe crabs retained under this non-commercial possession limit shall be maintained only for personal or family use and shall not be sold, bartered, exchanged, or offered for sale, barter, or exchange. (b) Spawning Closure. It shall be unlawful for any fisher to harvest, possess, or land horseshoe crabs from April 15th through June 7th . (c) Asian Horseshoe Crab. It shall be unlawful to possess, purchase, import, transport, sell, barter, exchange, purchase, or offer for sale, barter or exchange Asian horseshoe crabs or to release into the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth any Asian horseshoe crabs. (d) Cape Cod National Seashore. It shall be unlawful for any person to harvest horseshoe crabs within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore. (e) Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. It shall be unlawful for any person to harvest horseshoe crabs within the boundaries of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. (f) Authority to Temporarily Close Areas to Harvest of Horseshoe Crabs. The Director may temporarily close any area within the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth to harvest of horseshoe crabs, subject to the procedure below: 1. It has been approved by a majority of the members of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission; 2. A Declaration of Closure has been filed with the Massachusetts Secretary of State for publication in the Massachusetts Register; 3. A Declaration of Closure has been published in a local newspaper of record and posted on the Division's Legal Notice website; and 4. A Declaration of Closure has been distributed via the Division's e-mail list serve and directly to any and all affected permit holders. (4) Bait Fishery Management. (a) Commercial Bait Fishery Quota. The annual bait fishery quota shall be 140,000 horseshoe crabs. (b) Minimum Size. It shall be unlawful for any commercial fisher or dealer to retain, possess or land a horseshoe crab with a prosomal width of less than seven inches. (c) Trip Limits for the Commercial Bait Fishery. 1. Limited Entry Bait Crab Trip Limit. The trip limit for any commercial fisher with a regulated fishery permit endorsement for horseshoe crabs shall be 300 horseshoe crabs. On August 1st, should DMF determine that more than 50% of the annual quota remain, the trip limit shall increase to 400 horseshoe crabs. Should DMF determine that 80% of the annual quota is taken on or before September 15th , then the trip limit shall be decreased to 200 horseshoe crabs. 2. Open Entry Bait Crab Limit for Mobile Gear. The trip limit for any commercial fisher without a regulated fishery permit endorsement for horseshoe crabs and using mobile gear shall be 75 horseshoe crabs. 3. Quota Closure. It shall be unlawful for any commercial fisher to retain, possess, or land any horseshoe crabs once the Director has determined that 100% of the annual bait fishery quota has been reached. The quota closure will be enacted and announced in accordance with 322 CMR 6.41(2)(c). 4. Exceptions. The commercial bait fishery trip limits described above shall not apply to: a. Commercial pot fishers, permitted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 6.12 and 7.01(4) who are using horseshoe crabs as bait, provided their documented source of horseshoe crabs is a permitted bait dealer or the horseshoe crabs are held in storage by the commercial fisher named on the permit. b. Dealers permitted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(3). (d) Bait Fishery Reporting. Beginning in 2024, all commercial fishers participating in the commercial bait fishery for horseshoe crabs at 322 CMR 6.34(5) shall report all their catch electronically daily prior to landing through an electronic reporting application approved by the Division. (e) Closures to Bait Harvest. Pleasant BayComplex. It shall be unlawful to harvest horseshoe crabs from Pleasant Bay, as defined at 322 CMR 4.02: Use of Nets in Inshore Restricted Waters, except if lawfully participating in the biomedical horseshoe fishery under the authority of a special biomedical horseshoe crab harvest permit endorsement issued in accordance with 322 CMR 7.01(4). (f) Primary Purchase of Horseshoe Crabs. 1. The primary purchase of horseshoe crabs taken in the commercial bait fishery shall be conducted between the commercial fisher and an entity that holds a bait dealer permit and primary buyer authorization, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(3) and 322 CMR 7.07: Dealers Acting as Primary Buyers. 2. It shall be unlawful for a bait dealer to purchase horseshoe crabs from a single commercial fisher in excess of the commercial bait fisherylimits established at 322 CMR 6.34(4)(c)1. and 2. 3. It shall be unlawful for a bait dealer to purchase horseshoe crabs from any commercial fisher during the lunar spawning closures at 322 CMR 6.34(3). 4. For a commercial fisher to sell horseshoe crabs to an entity other than a bait dealer authorized as a primary buyer, that commercial fisher must hold a bait dealer permit and primary buyer authorization, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(3) and 322 CMR 7.07: Dealers Acting as Primary Buyers. (5) Biomedical Fishery for Horseshoe Crabs. (a) Biomedical Processor Quota. The biomedical processor quota shall be 200,000 crabs annually. This shall be divided equally between all entities permitted as biomedical processors, in accordance with 322 CMR 7.01(3). Only horseshoe crabs processed by biomedical processors and harvested from within the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth exclusively by biomedical harvesters for biomedical purposes shall be counted against the biomedical processor quota. The biomedical processor quota shall not include any horseshoe crabs borrowed from a bait dealer for processing or horseshoe crabs imported into the Commonwealth from another jurisdiction. (b) Minimum Size. It shall be unlawful for any biomedical fisher, biomedical dealer, or biomedical processor to retain, possess, or land a horseshoe crab with a prosomal width of less than seven inches. (c) Restrictions Affecting Biomedical Fishers 1. Permit Issuance. The Division shall issue a special biomedical horseshoe crab harvest permit endorsements only to persons who: a. have been endorsed on their special biomedical horseshoe crab harvest permit endorsement application by a biomedical dealer or biomedical processor to harvest and sell horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes; and b. hold a commercial fishing permit with the Division, in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(2), but do not hold a regulated fishery permit endorsement for horseshoe crabs, issued pursuant to 322 CMR 7.01(4). 2. Permit Conditions. In accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(7) the Director may further condition a special biomedical horseshoe crab harvest permit endorsement as necessary and appropriate for conservation and management, and to protect public health and welfare. 3. Use of Biomedical Horseshoe Crabs. Biomedical fishers shall retain, possess, and land horseshoe crabs only for biomedical purposes and direct sale only to a biomedical dealer or biomedical processor. It shall be unlawful for a biomedical fisher to retain, possess, or land crabs as part of the commercial bait fishery or for personal or family use. 4. Sale of Biomedical Horseshoe Crabs. Biomedical fishers shall sell their horseshoe crabs only to a biomedical dealer or a biomedical processor. 5. Biomedical Fishery Trip Limit. The trip limit for any biomedical fisher shall be 1,000 horseshoe crabs. 6. Prohibition on Retention of Marked Crabs. It shall be unlawful to retain any horseshoe crabs during harvest that have been marked in accordance with 322 CMR 6.34(5)(e)(5)(a). Any horseshoe crabs caught bearing such a mark shall be returned immediately to the sea. 7. Biomedical Processor Quota Closure. It shall be unlawful for any biomedical fisher to retain, possess, or land any horseshoe crabs or for a biomedical dealer or biomedical processor to obtain any horseshoe crabs from a biomedical fisher once the Director has determined that 100% of the annual biomedical processor quota has been reached. The quota closure will be enacted and announced in accordance with 322 CMR 6.41(2)(c). 8. Restrictions on Biomedical Fishers. Biomedical fishers are subject to the following restrictions: a. A biomedical fisher using trawl gear shall land horseshoe crabs only in a port approved by the Director and listed as a condition of the special biomedical horseshoe crab harvest permit. b. Throughout harvest and until offloading at landing, all horseshoe crabs shall be held in containers that are no more than two-thirds full of horseshoe crabs. Exempt from this requirement are biomedical fishers using trawl gear who are required to hold horseshoe crabs in containers that are actively fed by sea water. 9. Biomedical Fishery Reporting. Beginning in 2024, biomedical fishers participating in the biomedical fishery for horseshoe crabs at 322 CMR 6.34(5) shall report all their catch electronically daily prior to landing through an electronic reporting application approved by the Division. (d) Limits on Biomedical Dealers and Biomedical Processors. 1. Biomedical Processor Permit Issuance. Any entity seeking to process horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes, including but not limited to the bleeding of horseshoe crabs for the production of Limulus Amebocyte Lysate, shall hold a biomedical processor permit issued by the Division in accordance with M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(3) and (4)(c). The biomedical processor permit may be authorized as a primary buyer, in accordance with 322 CMR 7.07: Dealers Acting as Primary Buyers, to allow for the primary purchase of horseshoe crabs directly from a biomedical fisher. 2. Biomedical Dealer Permit Issuance. Any biomedical processor may contract a biomedical dealer to conduct primary purchases of horseshoe crabs from biomedical fishers. These biomedical dealers shall have an established relationship with a biomedical processor or multiple biomedical processors. The biomedical dealer permit may be authorized as a primary buyer, in accordance with 322 CMR 7.07: Dealers Acting as Primary Buyers, to allow for the primary purchase of horseshoe crabs directly from a biomedical fisher. 3. Primary Purchase of Horseshoe Crabs. a. The primary purchase of horseshoe crabs may only be between a biomedical fisher and a biomedical processor or biomedical dealer. b. It shall be unlawful for a biomedical dealer or a biomedical processor to accept more than 1,000 horseshoe crabs from a biomedical fisher during any calendar day. c. It shall be unlawful for a biomedical dealer or biomedical processor to accept horseshoe crabs from a biomedical harvester during the lunar spawning closures at 322 CMR 6.34(3). d. It shall be unlawful for a biomedical dealer or biomedical processor to accept horseshoe crabs from a biomedical harvester during a quota closure. 4. Handing of Horseshoe Crabs for Biomedical Processing. Biomedical dealers and processors are responsible for the proper handling, transport, and storage of horseshoe crabs in their possession. a. Horseshoe crabs harvested for the Massachusetts biomedical fishery may be placed in submerged pens or partially submerged pens by biomedical dealers or biomedical processors. All pens are subject to inspection bythe Division. If penning activity occurs, it may be further regulated through conditions to the applicable biomedical dealer or biomedical harvester permit, issued pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(7). b. Containers used for onshore holding, storing, or transporting crabs shall be no more than two-thirds full. c. Horseshoe crabs held in containers during onshore holding, storing, and transport shall be kept moist. d. It shall be unlawful for a horseshoe crab to be held out of seawater for more than 36 hours. e. During onshore transport, horseshoe crabs shall be stored in a temperature-controlled truck or in atemperature-controlled unit onboardatruck. The thermostat shall be set to between 50°F and 60°F. If the onshore transport of horseshoe crabs cannot be accomplished in a conforming manner, then the biomedical dealer or biomedical processor shall immediately contact the Massachusetts Environmental Police. f. During onshore holding and storage, horseshoe crabs shall be placed in an indoor air-conditioned space not to exceed 70°F. g. Horseshoe crabs supplied by biomedical fishers shall be kept separate and segregated by area of harvest and from horseshoe crabs obtained from other sources authorized at 322 CMR 6.34(5)(d)6. 5. Post Processing Release of Horseshoe Crabs. After horseshoe crabs are processed by a biomedical processor, the horseshoe crabs shall be returned to the area of capture in the following manner: a. The biomedical processor shall mark each processed crab with a distinct mark. The distinct shape and color of each mark shall be prescribed annually by the Division through permit conditions established pursuant to M.G.L. c. 130, § 80 and 322 CMR 7.01(7). b. It shall be unlawful for any biomedical dealer or biomedical processor to accept any horseshoe crab that bears a distinct mark for the current year or for a biomedical processor to process any horseshoe crab that bears a distinct mark for the current year. c. If the horseshoe crabs were caught by hand harvesters, they shall be returned to the designated shellfish growing area where they were initially captured. d. If the crabs were caught by trawlers, they shall be returned to the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth in or adjacent to the body of water where harvested. e. The biomedical dealer or biomedical processor may employ a vessel to ensure horseshoe crabs harvested in the biomedical fishery are lawfully returned for live-release back to the sea. f. The biomedical dealer or biomedical processor shall keep records of observed incidents of horseshoe crab mortality at all stages of processing, including during live-release. 6. Authorized Biomedical Use of Horseshoe Crabs from Sources Other than Massachusetts Biomedical Fishery. a. Bait Dealers. A biomedical medical processor may acquire horseshoe crabs from a bait dealer for biomedical processing, provided said horseshoe crabs are returned to the bait dealer after processing for sale as bait. b. Other States. A biomedical processor may acquire horseshoe crabs from another state, provided those horseshoe crabs are counted against the quota in the state of origin and are lawfully returned to the state of origin for release, if so required. 7. Reporting by Biomedical Dealers and Biomedical Processors. a. Primary Purchases by a Biomedical Dealer. The biomedical dealer shall weekly report the total number of horseshoe crabs purchased from each biomedical fisher on a trip basis through forms provided by the Division. b. Primary Purchases by a Biomedical Processor. i. If the biomedical processor is conducting primary purchases with biomedical fishers, then the biomedical processor shall weekly report the total number of horseshoe crabs purchased from each biomedical fisher on a trip basis through forms provided by the Division. ii. If the biomedical processor is temporarily using horseshoe crabs harvested as bait crabs, then the biomedical processor shall weekly report the total number of crabs used and source of crabs through forms provided by the Division. c. Biomedical Processing Activity and Total Mortality. On forms provided by the Division, the biomedical processor shall monthly report the total number of horseshoe crabs processed, source of the horseshoe crabs processed, and total estimated mortality.