Red knot numbers plummet, pushing shorebird closer to extinction

UngulateNerd92

UngulateNerd92

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Premium Member
Migration through Delaware Bay this year was the lowest since records began in 1982

The number of red knots visiting Delaware Bay this spring plunged to a record low, pushing the shorebird’s local population closer to extinction despite a quarter-century of efforts to save it.

Naturalists scanning the beaches on both the New Jersey and Delaware sides of the bay during the May migration found only 6,880 of the birds this year, down sharply from 19,000 in 2020 and even further below the 30,000 recorded in 2018 and 2019. The latest number is now the lowest since records began in 1982.

The population of the bird’s rufa subspecies was already well below the level that would ensure its survival, and the unexpectedly sharp decline this year has renewed biologists’ fears that the numbers are now too low for the bird to survive in the long term.

Delaware Bay red knot numbers plummet | NJ Spotlight News
 
  • Like
Reactions: CMP
It’s probably because we are killing all of the Horseshoe Crabs to make the COVID vaccines.
 
birdsandbats said:
It’s probably because we are killing all of the Horseshoe Crabs to make the COVID vaccines.
Click to expand...

That’s definitely an overstatement. It is important research continue to find and produce a synthetic method to make sure vaccines have not been contaminated by chemical. We highly regulate the number that are used and there have been mortality studies showing the vast majority survive after the procedure. Heres the data on the the take of the crabs in recent years. Covid-19 didn’t create the market for crabs and the government has not upped the quota on crabs. If you wanna blame something blame the bait market that catches and kills far more crabs. Also this all needs to be measured against the estimates for the U.S. population at 14 million individuals.

HSC_Landings2019.jpg
 
Here is another relevant article.

With Potential Concession to Industry, ASMFC Moves to Abandon Red Knot Recovery Efforts

If 2021 was a difficult year for the red knot, one of the world’s great migratory shorebirds, 2022 may be harder.

On the heels of the lowest red knot count since surveys began—fewer than 7,000 birds were documented in Delaware Bay this May—the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) appears poised to hasten the red knot’s decline by potentially lifting protections from the female horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay.

Red knots rely on horseshoe crab eggs for fuel during their roughly 9,300-mile migration

They time their trip to coincide with the crab’s annual spawn, one of the East Coast’s most cherished wildlife spectacles. During a brief pitstop, each knot must consume roughly 400,000 nutrient-rich eggs before departing for the Arctic.

So great are the stakes, the birds that fail to acquire such reserves are less likely to survive and reproduce. Thus, if the horseshoe crab goes, so too does the red knot.

Today, horseshoe crabs are primarily targeted for use as bait by eel and whelk fishermen in Delaware Bay. The species is also bled by biomedical companies. Both industries are respectively managed by the ASMFC, a compact of states and industry interests.

By developing benchmark stock assessments, imposing quotas and regulating the bait harvest, the ASMFC has taken steps to redress historical overharvesting, which once saw the horseshoe crab ground into fertilizer paste in untold millions.

With Potential Concession to Industry, ASMFC Moves to Abandon Red Knot Recovery Efforts
 
Here is another relevant article.

Delaware Bay red knot shorebird numbers remain historically low despite modest increase

The Delaware Bay Shorebird Project, which has assessed shorebird numbers in the region for 26 years, found that the threatened red knot shorebird’s numbers remained at historically low levels in 2022. The red knots modestly increased from 6,800 in 2021 to over 12,000 this year, but that number is less than half the 2019 peak count of 30,000 and a fraction of the peak population of over 94,000 in 1989.

“The simple fact is that red knots are starving to death,” said Christian Hunt, Southeast representative at Defenders of Wildlife. “With extinction now a real possibility, the decision to further reduce protections in Delaware Bay is incomprehensible. The ASMFC needs to reverse course before the red knot passes the point of no return.”

Delaware Bay is a critical resting point for most red knots as they complete their epic migration from as far south as Tierra del Fuego to their breeding grounds in the Arctic Circle. Red knots rely on horseshoe crab eggs to replenish and renourish before finishing their journeys, but due to the overharvesting of crabs in recent decades both egg availability and red knot numbers have suffered. In 2015, red knots were listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

Delaware Bay red knot shorebird numbers remain historically low despite modest increase
 
Here is another relevant article.

US Fish & Wildlife Service reopens public comment period on revised proposed critical habitat for threatened rufa red knot shorebird 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it has revised the proposed critical habitat rule for the rufa red knot, a robin-sized shorebird currently listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, and is reopening the public comment period. The revised proposal is based on new information received during the first comment period that resulted in the inclusion of additional units of critical habitat and corrections or additions to the size of some previously proposed units.

The revised rule proposes to designate 683,405 acres of critical habitat across 13 states for the rufa red knot, which relies on U.S. habitats to fuel its remarkable migrations from the Canadian Arctic to the southern tip of South America. Some rufa red knots also winter along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The revision includes an overall increase of 32,615 acres from the proposal published on July 15, 2021, due to added areas, changes to previously proposed units, and acreage corrections.

Service announces revised proposed critical habitat for the rufa red knot | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top