February 15, 2024 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is proposing new regulations that would prohibit harvesting horseshoe crabs during the spring spawning season, from April 15 to June 7. Horseshoe crabs are harvested for bait and also for use in the biomedical industry.
Federal law already prohibits horseshoe crab harvest within the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the Cape Cod National Seashore. But stricter state rules would align Massachusetts with other states’ regulations, according to the proposal from Division of Marine Fisheries director Daniel McKiernan. Massachusetts is one of four states where horseshoe crabs can be harvested for both bait and biomedical uses, and has the weakest protections of the four.