The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab and COVID-19

[Emily]

I hope the synthetic version get approved soon. Until then, I wonder if harvesting less and using all their blood is better than weakening larger numbers and releasing them back into the wild. It might feel better, but could be crueler and have a worse population effect overall.

https://www.qps.com/2020/07/16/the-atlantic-horseshoe-crab-and-covid-19/

The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab and COVID-19
July 16, 2020 By QPS
How can these ancient arthropods play a vital role in ending a global pandemic?


The Atlantic horseshoe crab, or Limulus polyphemus, is one of the oldest living things on the planet. Known as a “living fossil,” the horseshoe crab predates dinosaurs by 200 million years — and has remained largely unchanged for the last 450 million years. These ocean dwellers, which inhabit the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, are more closely related to scorpions than to true crabs.
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The process of horseshoe crab bleeding does present conservation concerns. During a survey of the biomedical field’s LAL-harvesting activities in 2019, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission estimated a 15-percent mortality rate. Additionally, although the crabs are returned to the wild after the blood harvesting, there are some negative effects on the spawning process. After their blood is harvested, female crabs are unable or unlikely to make the arduous journey to the intertidal zone to spawn. Some endangered shorebird species feed exclusively on horseshoe crab eggs, and the crabs’ failure to spawn detrimentally affects those populations...