Zach Widgeon, a spokesman for the commission, called its decision “very preliminary,” since it does not actually establish the winter fishery, adding that it isn’t time to sound any alarms.

The vote allows commission staff to explore the viability of a winter fishery that could begin as soon as this winter, if approved. At the commission’s next meeting in September, the staff members will present their findings, Widgeon said.

It’s very likely that, if a winter fishery is reestablished, it will differ from the winter seasons 15 years ago, Widgeon said. Historically, the dredge season ran from Dec. 1 to March 31, but it could be shorter this time around. Some stakeholders have suggested a January-February season, Widgeon said, to help sustain crab-picking houses during the winter.

“This is not the winter dredge that it was in 2008,” Widgeon said.

It’s also likely that a dredge season will include fewer participants, meaning it would not remove as many crabs as the 1998 season, Widgeon said.

“While this historical data is useful in evaluating the full scale of effort during the historical winter dredge fishery, current viability will be determined using current data and harvest targets in line with bay-wide management goals,” Widgeon wrote in an email.

Even so, the prospect of reopening the winter dredge harvest for blue crabs has attracted concern. Of the 186 individuals and groups that shared comments with the commission about the idea, all 186 were against it.

In 2008, when the Chesapeake Bay blue crab came under a federal fishery disaster declaration due to dire population numbers, Virginia’s winter dredge fishery was seen as “one of the biggest culprits” to remove to help the species recover, said Allison Colden, Maryland executive director of the bay foundation, which also released a statement Tuesday condemning Virginia’s decision.

Reinstating the season now, with the blue crab stock unsteady again, seems like a poor decision, Colden said.

“Based on all the information we had going into today’s meeting, it was entirely expected and logical that this would not move forward, considering all of the recommendations and sentiments against it,” Colden said.

The decision is also poorly timed, argued Kurtz in his statement, because officials are beginning a comprehensive stock assessment for the blue crab. It will explore the reasons for lower-than-hoped juvenile and female numbers, and evaluate new environmental stressors such as warming waters and ravenous invasive blue catfish.

“The success of the species’ recovery after a steep decline in the 2000s can be directly traced to Maryland and Virginia cooperatively managing blue crabs, especially females, based on science,” Kurtz wrote. “Today’s action by Virginia breaks with this successful approach.”

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