The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk has won Top Honors in the 2026 Advocacy Impact Award category from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, for a campaign that helped put a horseshoe crab protection law on the books in New York.
The award went to an initiative the aquarium calls Saving the Horseshoe Crabs of Long Island Sound. It was presented on September 30 at AZA’s Honors and Awards Lunch, held during the association’s annual conference in Portland, Oregon.
What the aquarium actually did
The work began with data. The aquarium’s research scientists published peer-reviewed research in 2025 documenting significant declines in horseshoe crab numbers in Long Island Sound and setting out what would be needed to reverse them. The aquarium then took those findings to policymakers, to the press and to the public, working with regional coalitions and other conservation groups. Staff testified before lawmakers. Guests were given ways to take part through education programs.
The aquarium says that effort helped build momentum for New York’s Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, which passed in December 2025. The same legislation had come close the year before and was vetoed by the governor.
“Our entire team is honored to receive this recognition from AZA,” said Jason Patlis, the aquarium’s president and chief executive. “This award reflects what can happen when science, community engagement, collaboration, and effective advocacy come together to drive conservation action. We are proud that our research, outreach, and advocacy helped to advance stronger protections for a species that is essential to the health of Long Island Sound.”
Dan Ashe, AZA’s president and chief executive, called the award a recognition of “the best of the best in the global aquarium and zoo community,” and said the aquarium’s work “is something Norwalk can be proud of.”
How much trouble is the American horseshoe crab in?
The IUCN Red List lists the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, as Vulnerable under criterion A3bd, in an assessment by Smith, Beekey, Brockmann, King, Millard and Zaldivar-Rae dated February 17, 2016, with a decreasing population trend. Criterion A3 is about projected future decline rather than losses already recorded, which is the relevant distinction for a species still present in large numbers across its range.
That range runs from Maine to the Yucatan, and both Connecticut and New York are inside it, which is why a Long Island Sound campaign reaches a federal-scale animal. A separate IUCN Green Status assessment in 2022 rated the species Moderately Depleted, with a species recovery score of 69 percent. Both readings point the same way: not disappearing, and not safe either.
Why a Norwalk aquarium leads on this species
Long Island Sound sits at the heart of the horseshoe crab’s northern spawning range, and the aquarium is on its shore. This is the second time in a month the institution has turned local water into a result: in September a coalition it works with pulled more than 4,000 abandoned lobster traps out of the Sound.
Founded in 1924, AZA accredits 255 zoos, aquariums and related facilities across 12 countries. The Advocacy Impact Award is the category it uses for member institutions that change policy rather than only study it, which makes this one a useful marker of what a mid-sized regional aquarium can move.
Quick answers
- What award did The Maritime Aquarium win?
Top Honors in the 2026 Advocacy Impact Award category from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, presented on September 30 at AZA's Honors and Awards Lunch during its annual conference in Portland, Oregon.
- What was the award for?
An initiative the aquarium calls Saving the Horseshoe Crabs of Long Island Sound, which brought together its conservation scientists, educators, animal husbandry staff and policy advocates along with research, conservation and community partners.
- What did the campaign achieve?
The aquarium says it helped build momentum for New York's Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, which passed in December 2025. Similar legislation had been vetoed by the governor the year before.
- What research was it based on?
Peer-reviewed research published by the aquarium's research scientists in 2025, which documented significant horseshoe crab declines in Long Island Sound and identified the actions needed to reverse them. Staff then testified before lawmakers and took the findings to the press and the public.
- How threatened is the American horseshoe crab?
The IUCN Red List lists Limulus polyphemus as Vulnerable under criterion A3bd, in an assessment by Smith, Beekey, Brockmann, King, Millard and Zaldivar-Rae dated February 17, 2016, with a decreasing population trend. A separate Green Status assessment in 2022 rated the species Moderately Depleted with a recovery score of 69 percent.
- Where do American horseshoe crabs live?
Along the Atlantic coast from Maine to the Yucatan. Both Connecticut and New York are inside that range, which is why a Long Island Sound campaign bears on a species of continental scale.
