CONGRESS
ALLOCATES FUNDING
FOR VIRGINIA TECH'S
HORSESHOE CRAB RESEARCH
CENTER
BLACKSBURG,
Nov. 20, 2003 -- Congress
has allocated $630,000
for horseshoe crab
research funding to
Virginia Tech's Horseshoe
Crab Research Center
(HCRC) in Blacksburg.
Jim Berkson, who is
an assistant professor
of fisheries and wildlife
science, leads the
research partnership.
"The congressional
grant will be used
to conduct research
critical to the sustainable
management of this
essential species,"
explains Berkson.
Horseshoe crabs are
an important species
at the center of a
major controversy.
Their eggs are a major
source of energy for
migrating shorebirds,
they are harvested
commercially for use
as bait, and they
are bled by biomedical
companies to produce
a chemical critical
to protecting public
health.
Virginia
Tech's HCRC is the
largest horseshoe
crab research institution
in the country. "Congress
has requested that
new research be conducted
to improve horseshoe
crab management, and
the federal government
has asked Virginia
Tech's center to do
it," adds Berkson.
The
new funding will support
research being conducted
by Berkson and other
researchers in the
fisheries and wildlife
department, including
Jim Fraser, David
Hata, and Marcella
Kelly; Randy Wynne,
associate professor
of forestry; and Jeff
Waldon and Scott Klopfer
of the Conservation
Management Institute
in the College of
Natural Resources.
Research
will include a trawl
survey (counting the
number of crabs in
a given area) providing
estimates of population
size; a study to identify
historic, current
and probable future
spawning habitat through
geographic information
systems; a study determining
the feasibility of
using aerial photography
to expand the coverage
of spawning surveys
(how often and where
the crabs are laying
their eggs); and a
study investigating
the dynamics between
horseshoe crabs and
shorebirds.
Funding
came through the efforts
of Senators John Warner
and George Allen of
Virginia, Senator
Tom Carper of Delaware,
and Representatives
Rick Boucher and Frank
Wolf of Virginia.
The
money is allocated
to Virginia Tech but
research will be a
collaboration including
federal and state
governments as well
as non-governmental
organizations.
The
HCRC was established
in October 2001 and
has been established
to provide information
that will lead to
better management
practices on the horseshoe
crab resource. The
HCRC will work toward
developing management
that will lead to
a sustainable supply
of horseshoe crabs
for shorebirds, fishermen
and the biomedical
industry. Virginia
Tech’s HCRC is the
only research program
in the country dedicated
to this task.
The
College of Natural
Resources at Virginia
Tech consistently
ranks among the top
five programs of its
kind in the nation.
Faculty members stress
both the technical
and human elements
of natural resources
and instill in students
a sense of stewardship
and land-use ethics.
Areas of studies include
environmental resource
management, fisheries
and wildlife sciences,
forestry, geospatial
and environmental
analysis, natural
resource recreation,
urban forestry, wood
science and forest
products, geography,
and international
development.
