Statement of Betsy Loyless, Senior Vice President, National Audubon
Society



    WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "We applaud the
legislature for protecting a precious species that is in deep trouble. With
deliberate speed and in a bipartisan fashion, they have found a way to
protect not just the red knot, but a great natural attraction in New Jersey
and Delaware's shores. We urge Governor Corzine to sign the bill and make
it law, and we urge Delaware to follow their lead."



    "This achievement comes in spite of foot-dragging from the Bush
Administration, which has been slow to acknowledge the overwhelming
scientific evidence indicating the red knot's plight."



    MORE INFORMATION



    Last month, conservation groups including Audubon sought emergency
protections from the federal government to prevent further catastrophic
declines in numbers of red knots
(http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=173). The emergency
petition for listing the species for federal protection under the
Endangered Species Act came on the heels of a new report by 20 shorebird
biologists (http://www.audubon.org/campaign/esa/doc/red_knot_report.pdf)
from around the world, which detailed the rapid and ongoing decline of the
migratory shorebird's populations in the Western Hemisphere.



    The new report confirmed that both the rufa and roselaari species of
red knot in the United States need immediate protection or risk further
decline and extinction. In addition to the evidence showing decreased
populations of both subspecies of red knot, the report also found that
weights of red knots caught in the Delaware Bay during their spring
stopover have suffered significantly due to the reduced availability of
horseshoe crab eggs that are needed to sustain the shorebird on the last
leg of their migration to breeding grounds in the Arctic.



    Delaware and New Jersey currently do not have strong enough
conservation measures in place to ensure adequate numbers of horseshoe
crabs, and the Department of the Interior has failed to request the funds
necessary to deal with the growing number of candidates -- now totaling 282
species.



    The New Jersey bill imposes a moratorium on the harvesting of horseshoe
crabs. Already approved by the General Assembly, it was approved by the
Senate in a unanimous vote of 39-0.

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