Crabbing restrictions looming this year

With population sinking, Maryland, Virginia coordinating efforts.

With nearly every indicator of blue crab health pointing downward - harvest size, population levels, reproduction - officials in Maryland and Virginia are planning on new restrictions to help the troubled crustacean.

"We're trying to narrow it down and we're trying to coordinate closely with Virginia," said Lynn Fegley, a biologist who is the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' point person on crabs. "We're not at the point of making decisions, but we want to narrow the focus."

To that end, Ms. Fegley and DNR...