From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? The overharvesting of horseshoe crabs, however, has reduced the shorebirds’ populations by about 75% from the 1980s to the 2000s, according to the U.S. Still, sightings remain only a fraction of historic times when bird watchers and naturalists flocked to the Delaware Bay to be in awe of the thousands of red knots arriving on its beaches. The impact of harvesting horseshoe crabsDespite efforts to prevent overfishing, horseshoe crabs continue to be harvested and used as bait for eel and whelk. Delaware allows the commercial harvesting of horseshoe crabs, following a male-only quota limit implemented by the ASMFC.