Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/04/14/blue-horseshoe-crab-blood-sell.html
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This has been a stress on them for a while. Previous to that it was bait for shellfish traps. The blood harvesting priced them out of the bait market. Most well managed fisheries banned the taking of horseshoe crabs years ago. But as in all things fishing, not all nations or municipalities are well managed. So no matter how much say NY does to reign it in. A place like Virginia can screw the whole thing up. No matter how well the US does nations like China can screw it up for everyone.
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horseshoe crab blood milking stations…
…my Devo cover band.
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I know this may sound awful but can they be farmed?
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Apparently so:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AB736E/AB736E02.htm
Seems like their diet might be what makes them expensive to farm.
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If the stuff is THAT valuable, why not require companies farming them to create or sustain breeding programs? They’re one of the neater creatures scuttling around out there, too, and not just because it’s easy to use the word “scuttle” when speaking of them.
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It seems like most news I hear about horseshoe crabs is depressing. And now I learn that we are milking them for their blood. 
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Are we not crabs
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Devolution? More like Novolution.
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Shouldn’t we be seeking out alternative sources of blue blood?
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I felt like puking reading this.
What!?
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