OCEAN CITY — The Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP) is looking for volunteers for its horseshoe crab stewardship program.
From early May through late July, horseshoe crabs come ashore to spawn and lay their eggs during high tides, a spectacle that has become quite an attraction for nature enthusiasts each year in the resort area. Unfortunately, when the tides change, large groups of horseshoe crabs can get caught up and essentially get stranded in their spawning habitats including rip-rapped shorelines and marsh areas. Last summer, hundreds of horseshoe crabs perished in north end Ocean City canal areas after getting stranded on low tides.
MCBP staff and volunteers conduct yearly horseshoe crab surveys around the coastal bays behind the resort and have been able to identify certain areas where strandings occur most frequently. The MCBP has developed a horseshoe crab stewardship program to help monitor those trouble spots and get stranded horseshoe crabs back into the water, but with the spawning season hitting its midway point, the program is seeking more volunteers.
“The MCBP is seeking stewards to assist with monitoring these areas and responding to strandings to release the victims and get them back into our bays,” said MCBP Outreach Coordinator Sandi Smith. “If you come across a horseshoe crab lying upside down on the beach, please flip it over. This is easy to do by grabbing the side of its shell and turning the crab over. Never pick up a horseshoe crab by its telson, or tail.”
Despite the local surveys conducted annually by the MCBP and its volunteers, the current status of the horseshoe crab population remains uncertain. One thing that is certain is the commercial harvest of horseshoe crabs has increased significantly over the last few decades and it currently at an all-time high. Overall, fisheries scientists and managers have determined there is no clear coast-wide trend in determining horseshoe crab abundance, but it appears there are cases of localized population declines.
The MCBP horseshoe crab stewardship program is successful in helping horseshoe crabs stranded during spawning over the next several weeks and ensuring the population at least locally continues to thrive. Anyone interested in joining the horseshoe crab stewardship program should contact Amanda Poskaitis at amandap@mccoastalbays.org or by calling 410-213-2297.