Horseshoe crabs have been around for a half-billion years, surviving disasters that wiped out most life on this planet. One of the secrets to their longevity? Massive beach orgies. Every year, they deposit millions of eggs along the Atlantic Coast, providing protein-rich food for many endangered species — including red knots, who use it to fuel their epic 9,500-mile annual migration. The Center won protection for these shorebirds in 2014. Now a commission of U.S. coastal states wants to raise limits on commercial horseshoe crab harvests for bait. That would be an especially hard blow for red knots, whose numbers have declined by 94% since the 1980s. We're opposing the proposed harvest increase. Horseshoe crabs have come so far and provide so much. We can't let these ancient creatures — or the others who depend on them — disappear forever. #StopExtinction #HorseshoeCrab Video courtesy of NOAA Fisheries.