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Jobs: New Jersey should invest in horseshoe crabs, biologist says
It sounds like ghoulish business, but drawing blood from horseshoe crabs is worth at least $200 million a year, with steadily growing demand — and increasing worries that the supply could diminish.
So one prominent biologist who studies the relationship between horseshoe crabs and shorebirds is proposing that New Jersey and Delaware launch a public-private partnership to produce lysate — a critical medical testing compound made from crab blood — with help from Delaware Bay commercial fishermen who used to catch crabs for bait.
“There’s a huge value being lost here. … We really have to create wealth for the people in the area,” said Larry Niles, chief scientist for the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, after state advisers met Tuesday to hear reports on the status of the crabs and red knot shorebirds that feed on the crabs’ eggs. (Moore, Gannett)