What's happening
This bill requires the state to cooperate with local governments requesting harvest closures on municipal property when regulating horseshoe crab management.
Why it matters
Strengthens local control over wildlife resources. By requiring the state to cooperate with towns, villages, or counties that request harvest closures on their municipal property, the bill gives local governments more influence over how horseshoe crab populations are managed in their jurisdictions.
Could enhance protections for vulnerable habitats. Municipalities concerned about declining horseshoe crab numbers or the ecological impact of harvesting (such as on shorebird populations that rely on crab eggs) will have a clearer mechanism to request and obtain harvest restrictions on their own lands.
May lead to a patchwork of regulations. The law could result in different harvest rules on municipal properties across the state, depending on local priorities, which could affect commercial harvesters and complicate enforcement.
Reflects growing awareness of horseshoe crab ecological value. By formalizing local input, the amendment recognizes the horseshoe crab’s importance not just for fisheries, but also for local conservation efforts and broader ecosystem health (e.g., migratory bird support, biomedical use).
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Who cares
Headline styles
Regulate Crab Harvesting
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Approval memo.30
- Signed chap.447
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.315
- Substituted for A8184A
- Referred to environmental conservation
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1932
- Referred to rules
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Regulate Commercial Crab Harvesting
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Steven Englebright
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6682
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 13, 2017
Introduced by Sens. LAVALLE, AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the taking of crabs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 13-0331 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 365 of the laws of 1994, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 325 of the laws of 1999, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 263 of the laws of 1997, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 327 of the laws of 1999 and subdivision 7 as amended by chapter 226 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows: § 13-0331. Crabs; permit to take; prohibited acts.
1. No person shall take crabs, including horseshoe crabs (Limulus sp.) for commercial purposes without first obtaining a permit from the department. For purposes of this subdivision, a presumption of "commercial purposes" shall be made wherein one takes or lands more than fifty crabs in any one day or sells or barters or offers for sale or barter any crabs he or she has taken. Permits shall be issued to individuals only but may be endorsed for use on a vessel, in which case it shall cover all persons on board such vessel.
2. A person domiciled within the state may take crabs, for commercial purposes, from the waters of the state upon first obtaining a crabbing permit from the department.
a. The department shall prescribe and furnish forms for application for such permit.
b. The fee for such crabbing permit shall be thirty dollars.
3. A person not domiciled in the state who is domiciled in a state that provides reciprocal permits or licenses to persons domiciled in New York state may take crabs, for commercial purposes, upon first obtaining a crabbing permit from the department.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11984-04-7
S. 6682 2
a. The department shall prescribe and furnish forms for application for such permit.
b. The fee for such crabbing permit shall be fifty dollars.
4. Permits are not transferable and shall expire on December 31 following the date of issue. If it appears in the public interest, the department may suspend or cancel such permits without prior notice.
5. Female crabs with eggs visible thereon, commonly called sponge crabs, or any female crabs from which the egg pouch or bunion has been removed, shall not be taken, possessed, transported or offered for sale at any time.
6. Crabs shall not be taken by dredging in the waters of Richmond county; Hempstead Bay and South Oyster Bay in the county of Nassau; or in the waters of Great South Bay west of Captree bridge in the county of Suffolk.
7. The department may, until December thirty-first, two thousand [seventeen] eighteen, fix by regulation measures for the management of crabs of any kind including horseshoe crabs (Limulus sp.), including size limits, catch and possession limits, open and closed seasons, closed areas, restrictions on the manner of taking and landing, requirements for permits and eligibility therefor, recordkeeping requirements, requirements on the amount and type of fishing effort and gear, and requirements relating to transportation, possession and sale, provided that such regulations are no less restrictive than requirements set forth in this chapter and provided further that such regulations are consistent with the compliance requirements of applicable fishery management plans adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and with applicable provisions of fishery management plans adopted pursuant to the Federal Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. § 1800 et seq.).
8. The department shall, when adopting regulation measures for the management of horseshoe crabs (Limulus sp.) pursuant to subdivision seven of this section, cooperate with any town, village or county that requests any municipal property be subject to a harvest closure.
§ 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2018.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the taking of crabs
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to enhance and extend the Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) crab management practices.
Summary of provisions
This bill would extend, for one year, the authority of DEC to manage crabs by regulation; and, require DEC to cooperate with requests that municipal property be subject to a harvest closure.
Justification
Crabs have played an important role in New York's fishing history. For example, the horseshoe crab has sometimes been called a living fossil, having remained relatively unchanged in appearance for 350 million years. Horseshoe crabs are an important part of the ecosystem, serving as a food source for migratory shorebirds, including red knots functioning as bait for the taking of whelk and American eel and providing an important contribution to medicine with a clotting agent in their blood called Limulus Amoeboyte Lysate (LL) for which there is currently no synthetic substitute. This legislation would extend DEC's authority to manage crabs, including horseshoe crabs, for an additional year and require the department to provide for cooperation with municipalities in public beach harvest closures in its rules and regulations.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect January 1, 2018.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.