Horseshoe crabs bled for vaccines without oversight.
The biomedical industry's demand for horseshoe crab blood, used to detect bacterial toxins in vaccines and medical devices, is growing in the US despite the availability of a synthetic alternative. Five companies along the East Coast bled over 700,000 crabs in 2021, with at least 80 million tests performed each year worldwide. The industry's expansion has led to limited coast-wide regulation and increased secrecy, with fishermen paid by bleeding companies handling crabs in ways that research has shown to cause harm or violate harvest laws without punishment. The process of approving the synthetic alternative in the US has stalled, even as the number of migratory shorebirds dependent on horseshoe crab eggs has plummeted.