Do you agree ➡ some people suggest STOP buying hermit crabs (land hermit crabs/terrestrial hermit crabs/Coenobita)?
No demand, no supply, we all know this concept. But do we have method to STOP people buying hermit crabs? NO. So the first step is we should think about how to reduce the demand.
1. Prevent overharvesting just like Japan ➡In Japan, hermit crabs in Okinawa are recognized as a Natural Monuments. The handling of Natural Monuments is determined by national and prefectural laws. Only certain businesses are licensed to collect and sell hermit crabs. The license also regulates the quantity legally allowed to be harvested per year.
2. Educate people how to take care of hermit crabs ➡ I think the big problem is many people DO NOT KNOW how to take care of them. Many people think that hermit crabs are short lived pets, only have 1-2 year life expectancy. When hermit crabs died, people will buy again, vicious circle. But in fact hermit crabs can live over 10 years in crabitat if we take care of them properly. For example, over 40 years in in US, over 15 years in Japan, mine also over 10 years. Let’s imagine if life expectancy of all our crabs is at least 10 years, we do need to buy any news crabs frequently.
On the other hand, some people would just say, STOP buying hermit crabs, just release them to the wild. These people really do not know much about them. Hermit crabs always export to the places that no natural habitat suitable for them. There is no better way than take good care of them.
