Horseshoe crab all but end the practice of blood harvesting from horseshoe crabs. Horseshoe crabs are used as bait to fish for eels (mostly in the United States) and whelk, or conch. However, fishing with horseshoe crab was banned indefinitely in New Jersey in 2008 with a moratorium on harvesting to protect the red knot wading bird, which eats the crab's eggs. A moratorium was restricted to male crabs in Delaware, and a permanent moratorium is in effect in South Carolina. The eggs are eaten in parts of Southeast Asia and China. A low horseshoe crab population in the Delaware Bay is
Crab meat and the animal is then returned to the water. The practice is defended because some crabs can naturally autotomise (shed) limbs and then about a year later after a series of moults, regenerate these limbs. In Western Europe crab meat is derived primarily from the species "Cancer pagurus". "C. pagurus" is a large crab noted for the sweet, delicate flavour of its meat. It is also known as the "Brown Crab", the "Common Crab" or the "Edible Crab". The United Kingdom is the largest fishery for "C. pagurus" with large fisheries in Scotland and a smaller but substantial fishery in