July 14, 2005
 
 Mr. Bradley M. Campbell, Commissioner
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
401 E. State Street, 7th Floor East Wing
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402
 
 
Dear Commissioner Campbell:
 
On behalf of the Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) we wanted to thank you for taking the time to meet with us and appreciate your interest in the many issues that concern the commercial fishing industry. Specifically, I think we have mutual concerns and similar approaches to solve the horseshoe crab situation. With the support of your office and staff we would like to explore the possibility of developing policy that might include new harvesting strategies and perhaps forming a cooperative to achieve New Jersey’s horseshoe crab quota.
 
We can all agree that the State of New Jersey has taken appropriate regulatory steps to mange the horseshoe crab fishery, reducing its harvest significantly and the number of participant to its current number of 36. The significance of the crab harvest and its role in the conch fishery is crucial beyond fishermen in New Jersey as there is no alternative bait. Unfortunately, regardless of the importance of the fishery and the reductions in harvest, the biological association of the red knot population continues to be a divisive issue. While the relationship between these two creatures are not completely understood and the decline in the population of red knots has no known cause, many people advocate for the complete closure of horseshoe crab harvest.
 
I would like to hold a series of meetings with the commercial industry and after a position was reached we could present our plan to you and your staff. During those meeting we would present to the permit holders the current situation with the fishery and explain some possible solutions. Those solutions would include the possibility of going to a limited hand harvest and include a directed trawl fishery to catch the remaining quota. Other considerations might be given to changing the season for harvest and how to divide the current New Jersey quota. For example some permit holders might choose to have someone catch the crabs for them and hold them in freezers for their own bait use while some might consider selling their crabs to already established markets.
 
We look forward to your thoughts on what we believe might be a creative solution to the ongoing issues surrounding the horseshoe crab fishery.
 
Sincerely,
 
Gregory P. DiDomenico
Executive Director
Garden State Seafood Association