While Virginians are throwing around the idea of a lawsuit, Marylanders aren't going that far yet.

"We just want to make sure that the state listens to some of our concerns," said Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen's Association.

Mr. Simns said he hopes Mr. McAllister will be an advocate to the watermen's interests and make sure cuts in the harvest aren't too onerous.

"It's just to have someone to protect us on the legal aspect and make sure they do it right," Mr. Simns said. "It's so important, we felt we needed some legal representation, so we know what they're doing is legal and everything."

Frank Dawson, assistant secretary of natural resources, said his agency continues to work with watermen to address their concerns. He wasn't surprised they hired a lawyer.

"It's not uncommon for groups to obtain representation when there's legal matters involved. That would seem logical to do that," he said.

Both states are trying to cut the harvest of female crabs by 34 percent to allow the population a chance to rebound.

Earlier this week, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources proposed ending the female harvest several weeks early in the fall, instituting some bushel limits on females and banning recreational crabbers from keeping female crabs altogether.

And in Virginia yesterday, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted to prohibit the practice of dredging crabs during the winter for at least one year - something that's already off-limits in Maryland.

The VMRC also voted to close the female crab harvest early, reduce the number of pots crabbers can use, stop issuing recreational crab licenses, clamp down on watermen who have repeated crabbing violations and require more escape rings on pots.

That's on top of earlier rule changes in Virginia to protect crabs. And members said more changes can be expected before the 2009 crab season, likely including more limits on pots.

The actions taken by the Virginia commission yesterday came after nearly four hours of debate among scientists, state officials, environmentalists and watermen and their families at a packed meeting room in Newport News, Va.

The female harvest reduction is needed to allow more females the chance to migrate south to spawning grounds and produce the next generation of crabs.

The crab population is teetering on the brink of collapse. Scientists say there are not enough adult crabs in the bay and too great a portion of the population is being harvested each year.

Ideally, there should be 200 million adult crabs in the bay; surveys show there are 120 million.

And the harvest should take no more than 53 percent of the crabs in a given year, and preferably no more than 46 percent. Last year's harvest was one of the worst on record, but 60 percent of the population was taken.

Ms. Washington, the Virginia watermens' lawyer, said watermen are unfairly being made to pay the price for a failure to clean up the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

A lack of bay grasses that serve as juvenile crab nurseries, water pollution and other factors are contributing to the blue crab's decline - not just the harvest by watermen and the cracking of claws at crab feasts.

The Virginia watermen could take one of two routes: They could appeal the decisions of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, or they could sue state or federal officials for failing to clean up the bay as promised.

"Unlike the average citizen who enjoys the bay, the Virginia working watermen and the Maryland working watermen are in a unique position because they are harmed by these agencies' failure to meet these requirements," Ms. Washington said.

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Reporter Scott Harper of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va., contributed to this report.