S.C. horseshoe crab harvest for pharma can proceed - 4th Circuit

A federal appeals court has allowed the harvesting in a South Carolina national refuge of horseshoe crabs whose blood is used to test the safety of vaccines, a Monday court filing shows.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the bid of pharma company Charles River Laboratories International Inc (CRL) to allow the creature's harvesting this month in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, over a green group's concerns it will affect the diet of an endangered bird that feeds on the crab's eggs.

Catherine Wannamaker, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center who represents the plaintiff Defenders of Wildlife (DOW), said that the conservation group is evaluating "options to stop this illegal harvest."

CRL spokeswoman Sam Jorgensen said the company works to preserve and grow the crab's population. Most horseshoe crabs survive the harvesting after some of their blood is extracted and they are released.

DOW sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year, accusing it of violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to study whether the harvesting poses risks to threatened birds, including the red knot, which use the refuge as a stopover on their migratory route.

U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee in an order that provides no explanation granted intervenor-appellant CRL's May 17 motion for an emergency stay of a lower court order preliminarily enjoining the crab's commercial harvesting without FWS permits. He was joined by U.S. Circuit Judges Barbara Milano Keenan and Pamela Harris.

Massachusetts-based CRL and its lawyer Kannon Shanmugam of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison appealed earlier this month the Charleston federal judge order.

The blood is used to detect bacterial contamination in vaccines and medical implants. FWS spokeswoman Vanessa Kauffman declined to comment.

In addition to CRL, South Carolina has intervened in the case.

The case is Defenders of Wildlife v. Charles River Laboratories International Inc, 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-1589.

For Defenders of Wildlife: Catherine Wannamaker of Southern Environmental Law Center

For Charles River Laboratories International: Kannon Shanmugam of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

For U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Jacqueline LaPan Edgerton with the U.S. Department of Justice

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