Watermen likely pulled in one of the smallest harvests of blue crabs in more than 60 years from the Chesapeake Bay this year, and signs continue to point to a depressed number of mature, spawning females in the bay.

The three smallest harvests since 1945 have all come since 2000. It appears 2007 will join that group; a new report estimates that this year's catch will total 48.7 million pounds, down slightly from 2006. The average since 1945 tracks closer to 80 million pounds.

The Chesapeake's blue crab population has always come in cycles, rising and falling. But what concerns scientists now is that the stock doesn't seem to be cycling out of a steep decline that began in the mid-1990s. Despite new crabbing regulations and the expansion of a sanctuary for spawning females in recent years, the population is not turning around.

Earlier this summer the Virginia Marine Resources Commission put together a panel of scientists from up and down the East Coast to review the state's blue crab regulations and determine if they are adequate.

The new report, from the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, recommends doing just that: Taking a look at what's on the books now and, if necessary, revamping with an aim toward "rebuilding a depressed stock, for promoting sustainability, and for ensuring blue crab do not become overfished."

Copyright 2007, Newport News, Va., Daily Press