Delaware Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Collin O’Mara has signed an order that bans three types of Asian species of Horseshoe crabs.
There are concerns that those harvested in places like Thailand and Vietnam carry a significant health risk, diseases and parasites along with fears that they could compete with the native horseshoe crab.
The Wilmington News Journal reports that O’Mara said the state was not willing to take the risk that these crabs posed noting that Delmarva has seen this before.
He was referring to the devastation of the oyster population in the Delaware Bay from two parasites: MSX and Dermo.
Delaware is the first state in the region to ban possession and use of the foreign crabs.
