DEC: Horseshoe crab harvesting suspended

No horseshoe crab harvesting will be permitted as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday until further notice, as the state quota for the year -- 150,000 crabs -- has been exceeded, according to a release from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Preliminary estimates put the year's number of horseshoe crabs harvested at 170,897, most of them in the spring, the release said.

To avoid such an issue for 2013, the DEC will meet in the winter with permit holders to discuss "quota management," the release said.

Horseshoe crabs are found year-round in Long Island Sound, Great South Bay and other New York coastal areas, according to the DEC site.