Ecological Research & Development Group

Ecological Research & Development Group Inc. (ERDG) is an internationally recognized nonprofit wildlife conservation organization whose primary focus is to overcome the ignorance, indifference, and intolerance that inhibits the conservation of the world's four extant horseshoe crab species.

Overview

Headquartered in the State of Delaware, USA, ERDG integrates scientific research and development, and environmental planning & management, and public education and outreach as it works to inspire and assist individuals, communities, and organizations in solving problems, changing behaviors, and promoting sound decisions to achieve sustainable ecosystems.

ERDG believes the foundation of a successful conservation program is effective public education and coastal community support in conjunction with marine and terrestrial conservation initiatives that preserve essential habitats and minimize human impact.

ERDG's Just flip' em!™program is designed to bring attention to the hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) who die each year from being stranded upside down during their yearly spawning ritual and to encourage individuals, through a simple act of compassion, to take the time to assist and appreciate these marine animals.

ERDG works toward protecting horseshoe crabs' spawning habitat throughout the four species' spawning range and through its Backyard Stewardship™ community-based horseshoe crab sanctuary program. ERDG is the only organization that has successfully persuaded residential landowners to designate their private beaches as horseshoe crab sanctuaries. In 2022, there are 9 community-based horseshoe crab sanctuaries along the Delaware Bay shores of New Jersey and Delaware, and 1 within Delaware's Rehoboth Bay, encompassing over 20 miles of some of the most productive horseshoe crab spawning beaches in the world.

Working to reduce the number of horseshoe crabs used as bait in the US Atlantic Coast whelk and eel fisheries, ERDG produced, distributed, and promoted a bait-saving device that has significantly reduced harvesting pressure on the Limulus polyphemus species and is working with synthetic bait manufacturers to develop an alternative bait. To reduce the harvesting of horseshoe crabs used in the production of bacterial endotoxin tests (BET) used in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, ERDG is working closely with the world's leading BET producers and pharmaceutical companies to refine harvesting, husbandry, and bleeding best practices, and to encourage the use of alternative animal-free testing methods.

ERDG is a founding member of the Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group (HSG) within the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose purpose is to advocate for the science-based conservation of horseshoe crabs and their habitat, with a priority to update the Red List status for the three Asian horseshoe crab species. Within this body, ERDG is chair of the Trade, Industry, and Use working group, whose primary focus is to build partnership within the conservation community, horseshoe crab user groups, and governmental agencies to promote sound decisions and policy that prevents or mitigates the unsustainable commercial harvest of horseshoe crabs throughout the four species spawning range, and their subsequent trade and use.

ERDG is one of the founding members of the international workshop series on the science and conservation of horseshoe crabs. The workshops are intended to bring together horseshoe crab scientists, conservationists, industry, and governmental bodies worldwide to share their research and foster collaboration to recognize the growing need for global horseshoe crab conservation. The first workshop was held in the USA in 2007, the second in Hong Kong in 2011, the third in Japan in 2015, and the fourth in China in 2019. At its last workshop in China, the attending body composed The Beibu Gulf Declaration on Global Horseshoe Crab Conservation. It established the International Day of the Horseshoe Crab, celebrated worldwide on June 20th of each year.

ERDG's annual Young Voices™ Horseshoe Crabs and the Arts program is designed to raise species awareness through student artwork K-12. ERDG believes the power of expression from young environmental stewards is a vastly underutilized resource. Through art, it can help change the negative image of an animal, thereby planting the seed of compassion for all living beings. ERDG promotes student artwork via its website, art galleries, and nature centers throughout the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China.

ERDG has consulted and contributed content to numerous permanent horseshoe crab exhibits around the world, such as The Dupont Nature Center, in Delaware, USA, the Saikai National Park, Kujukushima Aquarium in Sasebo City, Japan, where the organization also held a retrospect of its Young Voices™ Horseshoe Crabs in the Arts student art show in 2007; and the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pingtung, Taiwan, where it also held a retrospect of its Young Voices™ Horseshoe Crabs in the Arts student art show in 2011.

ERDG's website serves as an umbrella for its global Horseshoe Crab Conservation Network™ and has played a vital role in overcoming public indifference and promoting sound conservation initiatives. It engages in multidisciplinary outreach and public education to shape the narrative around the conservation of the horseshoe crab species by speaking at public and private schools, universities, civic groups, community functions, nature centers, webinars, workshops, summits, and conferences.

It is a consultant on content, reviewer for accuracy, and the subject of numerous articles, books, and documentaries ranging from scientific papers to general interest stories on horseshoe crabs such as The New Yorker, Ian Frazier's Blue Bloods, Richard Fortey's book Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms, Anthony D. Frederick's award-winning book Horseshoe Crab: Biography of a Survivor, Deborah Cramer's award-winning book The Narrow Edge: A Tiny Bird, An Ancient Crab & An Epic Journey, and Kathy Sloane's award-winning documentary Witness to Hiroshima.

History

Ecological Research & Development Group Inc. was founded in 1995 by Glenn Gauvry, who is also a founding member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group and Chair of the Trade, Industry and Use working group.

In 1998, ERDG launched its website, which has, for the past 25 years, served as an umbrella for its global conservation network. It has played a vital role in overcoming public indifference and promoting sound conservation initiatives. This peer-reviewed, information-rich, user-friendly website provides a highly-accessible vehicle for educational resources, cultural exchange, news, and scientific articles on the world's four horseshoe crab species. It is used by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Through the sites Horseshoe Crab Sightings section, ERDG was the first to use the power of the internet and citizen science to record the spawning locations of the world's four horseshoe crab species.

Also, in 1998, when public awareness of horseshoe crabs was relatively low, with most people who lived along spawning beaches viewing the animals as a nuisance or with utter indifference, ERDG launched Just flip' em!™. A program designed to bring attention to the hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) who die each year from being stranded upside down during their yearly spawning ritual and to encourage individuals, through a simple act of compassion, to take the time to assist and appreciate these marine animals. Although this program was launched in Delaware, its popularity has spread up and down the Atlantic Coast of the US, engaging thousands of participants annually. One of many ways ERDG brings attention to this program is by placing signs with the Just flip 'em!™ logo and theme song (QR Code) on spawning beaches coastwide.

The following year, ERDG launched Backyard Stewardship™, a community-based horseshoe crab sanctuary program designed to work in tandem with the Just flip 'em!™ program and encourage coastal communities where horseshoe crab spawn and was once common practice to enlist heavy equipment operators to bury or haul away horseshoe crabs left behind to die after spawning, to declare their shared habitat a horseshoe crab conservation area or sanctuary. On June 13th, 2000, then Delaware Governor Thomas Carper visited Broadkill Beach, Delaware, to recognize this community for working with ERDG in establishing Delaware's first community-based horseshoe crab sanctuary.

To date, there are 9 community-based horseshoe crab sanctuaries along the Delaware Bay shores of New Jersey and Delaware, and 1 within Delaware's Rehoboth Bay, encompassing over 20 miles of some of the most productive horseshoe crab spawning beaches in the world.

In 1999, ERDG also initiated the first study to test the efficacy of bait bags developed by Bowers Beach, Delaware waterman Frank Eicherly IV in reducing the demand for the American horseshoe crab used as bait in the US whelk and eel fishery. Working with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and a select group of Virginia whelk fishermen, it was demonstrated that bait needs could be reduced by half without a measurable loss in catch if placed within a bait bag. This is possible because bait bags significantly reduces secondary predation on the bait. A coast-wide harvest of horseshoe crabs as bait at the time exceeded 3.5 million animals annually. A potential reduction of 50 percent represented a significant conservation measure and one that ERDG worked to see adopted throughout the industry. As a result of this study and ERDG's program to produce, distribute and promote the use of bait bags free of charge to over 15,000 whelk and eel fishermen up and down the US Atlantic Coast, this bait-saving device is now an industry standard. In addition to its bait-saving initiative, ERDG continues to partner with watermen, academia, and private industry in trying to develop a thus far elusive alternative bait to replace the use of horseshoe crabs in the whelk and eel fisheries altogether.

In 1999, ERDG introduced its annual Young Voices™ Horseshoe Crabs and the Arts program, designed to raise species awareness through student artwork K-12. ERDG believes the power of expression from our young environmental stewards is a vastly underutilized resource. Over the past 23 years, thousands of students worldwide have contributed their artwork to this collective voice, sharing their heartfelt expression in celebration of the horseshoe crab species. ERDG believes that through art, we can change the negative image of an animal, which thereby plants the seed of compassion for all living beings. ERDG promotes the artwork of these young environmental stewards via its website, art galleries, and nature centers throughout the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China.

In 2000, ERDG developed the world's first, and still the only museum-grade life-sized model of a horseshoe crab. To date, there are hundreds in use in schools and nature centers around the world. The same year, ERDG embarked on an ambitious plan to build the world's second horseshoe crab museum and research center, dedicated to conserving the world's four horseshoe crab species, in Milton, Delaware. The first museum dedicated to the study and conservation of horseshoe crabs is in Kasaoka City, Japan. Although ERDG owned the land, and the architectural and exhibit designs were complete, the construction cost ultimately proved to be the project's most significant hurdle. Hence after four years of trying, the organization decide to sell the property and reinvest the funds into expanding its conservation influence into Asia, home to three of the world's four horseshoe crab species. In support of its mission to heighten awareness of the horseshoe crab species around the world, ERDG has consulted and contributed content to numerous permanent horseshoe crab exhibits around the world, such as The Dupont Nature Center, in Delaware, USA, the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science, in Delaware, USA, the Saikai National Park, Kujukushima Aquarium in Sasebo City, Japan, and the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pingtung, Taiwan.

In 2005, ERDG and its horseshoe crab conservation partners in academia and government founded the international workshop series on the science and conservation of horseshoe crabs. This first-of-its-kind gathering is intended to bring together horseshoe crab scientists, conservationists, industry, and governmental bodies from around the world to share their research and foster collaboration in recognition of the growing need for global horseshoe crab conservation. The 1st workshop was held in 2007 at Dowling College, Long Island, New York, USA. Since then, a workshop has been held every four years in locations that could benefit from this influential gathering to advance horseshoe crab conservation in the region. The second workshop was held in 2011 at the City University of Hong Kong, the 3rd in 2015 at the Kujukushima Aquarium and University of Nagasaki, Sasebo City, Nagasaki, Japan, and the 4th in 2019 at Beibu Gulf University, Guangxi, People's Republic of China. During the 4th workshop, the attending body composed The Beibu Gulf Declaration on Global Horseshoe Crab Conservation. It established the International Day of the Horseshoe Crab, to be celebrated worldwide on June 20th of each year Since 2012, workshop venues and support have been under the direction of the IUCN Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group steering committee of which ERDG is a member.

In 2009, ERDG launched an initiative to bring awareness to the growing threat to three of the world's four horseshoe crab species due to harvesting and bleeding practices used in the production of Limulus and Tachypleus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL/TAL) reagents, mainly used by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and healthcare facilities globally for the detection of bacterial endotoxins, and to advocate for science base harvesting restrictions, peer-reviewed harvest, and husbandry practices, and the adoption of animal-free alternatives whenever applicable. In 2011, ERDG was the first nonprofit conservation organization to bring public attention to the potentially detrimental effects of bleeding horseshoe crabs for LAL/TAL at the 2nd International Workshop on the Science and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs, held at the City University of Hong Kong, presenting a paper titled, Current Horseshoe Crab Harvesting Practices Cannot Support Global Demand for TAL/LAL: The Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries' Role in the Sustainability of Horseshoe Crabs. In 2019, at the 4th International Workshop on the Science and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs, held at the Beibu Gulf University, Guangxi, People's Republic of China, ERDG and its co-authors from BioMérieux, a European company that produces an animal-free alternative to the LAL/TAL endotoxin test, presented a paper titled LAL/TAL and Animal-Free rFC-based Endotoxin Tests: Their Characteristics and Impact on the Horseshoe Crab Populations in the United States and Asia. To further build awareness of the threat to the global horseshoe crab populations through its use in the production of bacterial endotoxin tests (BET), ERDG has devoted a section on its website called "Protecting Health" designed to serve as a neutral source of information on the status of the industry and the role it plays in protecting human and animal health. ERDG is also actively engaged in pharma-led webinars and material endotoxin testing summits and works closely with industry partners to further advance horseshoe crab conservation.

In 2009, ERDG initiated and hosted its first Annual Horseshoe Crab Blessing and Rescue Ceremony on Pickering Beach, Delaware. Buddhists from dharma centers and temples in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, as well as community and local non-Buddhists, participated in this now annual event to bless these living beings and dedicate the merit of their actions to all living beings who are suffering throughout the world. After the ceremony, participants walk the shoreline to help spawn horseshoe crabs that are stranded upside-down and return to their marine habitat. This ceremony has been held for 13 years, only missing 2021 due to Covid restrictions.

In 2012, after a series of international meetings, the Horseshoe Crab Specialist Group within the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was formed. The IUCN HSG advocates for the science-based conservation of horseshoe crabs and their habitat, with a priority to update the Red List status for the three Asian horseshoe crab species, which are currently regarded as data deficient based largely on outdated information. Additionally, the group seeks to protect the world's four horseshoe crab species through a collaborative effort to conserve their populations and habitats, both marine and terrestrial, and raise public awareness of their importance in evolutionary history and coastal marine ecology. ERDG is an IUCN HSG founding member and chair of the Trade, Industry, and Use working group, whose primary focus is to build partnership within the conservation community, horseshoe crab user groups, and governmental agencies to promote sound decisions and policy that prevents or mitigates the unsustainable commercial harvest of horseshoe crabs throughout the four species spawning range, and their subsequent trade and use for human consumption, bait, and blood extraction to meet the global demand for bacterial endotoxin tests.

In the spring of 2018, 2019, and 2020, in an attempt to mitigate mass horseshoe crab standing mortality at the North end of Pickering Beach, Delaware, caused by beach erosion and shoreline topographical changes in a particular area, ERDG installed a 350-foot temporary wooden barrier across a stretch of beach, blocking spawning horseshoe crabs from entering a backwash that traps thousands each year. The barrier, which did not restrict water flow and was low enough so as not to hinder the natural movement of native wildlife, was removed after the spawning season to permit natural modeling of the beach, which occurs throughout the year. ERDG continues to seek low-cost, low-tech ways to reduce horseshoe crab stranding mortality during their annual spawning season.

Bibliography

• Gauvry, G. 2015. Current horseshoe crab harvesting practices cannot support global demand for TAL/LAL: The pharmaceutical and medical device industries' role in the sustainability of horseshoe crabs. In: Carmichael, R.H., Botton, M.L., Shin, P.K.S., and Cheung, S.G. (eds), Changing Global Perspectives on Horseshoe Crab Biology, Conservation, and Management, pp. 475−482. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.
• Gauvry, G., Carmichael, R.H. (2015). Young Voices: Through the Arts, Future Environmental Stewards Have a Global Voice. In: Carmichael, R., Botton, M., Shin, P., Cheung, S. (eds) Changing Global Perspectives on Horseshoe Crab Biology, Conservation and Management, pp.587-593. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.
• Gauvry, G. A., Uhlig, T., & Heed, K. (2022). LAL/TAL and animal-free RFC-based endotoxin tests: Their characteristics and impact on the horseshoe crab populations in the United States and Asia. International Horseshoe Crab Conservation and Research Efforts: 2007- 2020, 369–390. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.