KENDRAPARA: Unregulated fishing of horseshoe crabs along Odisha coast, one of the few places in the country where the species is found, has led to the decline in its population raising concern among the conservationists.
The State is home to two of four varieties of the species found globally. Those are found along the north-east coast of Balasore and Kendrapara districts.
The crabs used to migrate in large numbers regularly to breed. But, unregulated fishing activities along the coast and lack of awareness among local fishermen about horseshoe crab’s economic importance are leading to their declining population, said Dr Anil Chatterji, a noted horseshoe crab researcher and former scientist of Biological Oceanography Division of National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa.
Though known for their medicinal properties and in high demand among the biomedical companies, little effort is made by the Government to conserve the horseshoe crabs.
Every year, horseshoe crabs die in large numbers after getting entangled in fishing nets. Recently, the scientists had found around 500 crab carcasses in Balasore district.
Nearly three decades back, the horseshoe crabs were found in large numbers across the coast but now their presence is limited to pockets like Balaramgadi, Chandipur beach, Khandia estuary of Balasore district, Eakakula, Madali and Hukitola beach in Kendrapara district.
Scientists of NASA have been researching on the horseshoe crab, said Dr Chatterji adding it is high time for the Government to help horseshoe crab researchers, one of them being Dr Siddhartha Pati of Fakir Mohan University, to conserve the marine species.
The Association of Bio-diversity and Conservation, with the help of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), has been involved in horseshoe crab conservation and research work in Odisha.
Horseshoe crab blood contains a chemical that makes its blood clot in the presence of even the most minute trace of bacteria as a result many biomedical companies throughout the globe use the crab’s blood to make vaccines