Horseshoe crabs are harvested by the biomedical industry for their copper-based blue blood, a process that causes significant mortality and disrupts critical shorebird feeding grounds.
The biomedical bleeding process involves capturing crabs, restraining them in racks, and extracting up to 30% of their blood volume before release. The procedure causes hemolymph loss, tissue damage, and osmotic stress. Mortality rates are likely underestimated as crabs that survive the return journey may still die weeks later. Beyond individual welfare, the population-level collapse of horseshoe crabs cascades to shorebird species like the red knot that depend on their eggs. Transitioning to synthetic alternatives would eliminate this harm entirely.