Va. regulators continue crab restrictions

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – (AP) Intent on restoring blue crabs to sustainable levels in the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia regulators have continued catch restrictions for the 2009 season but eased many previous limits.

The unanimous decision by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission follows restoration of the bay's spawning crab population to 223 million, the result of a series of sharp harvest reductions enacted by Virginia and Maryland. The population is the highest recorded since 1993.

Commissioners approved:

- Closure of the season 10 days earlier, starting Nov. 21.

- Continuation for a year of a ban on the winter dredge season.

- Continuation of a 15 percent reduction in crab pots.

Many watermen at a hearing Tuesday in Newport News spoke against limits on their livelihood.