Maryland officials say an effort to buy back inactive crabbing licenses was not as popular as they hoped.

Maryland had hoped to buy 2,000 licenses of part-time crabbers through a reverse auction, but Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologist Lynn Fegley says only about 500 watermen submitted proposals.

Fegley says a few watermen sent in proposals in the millions of dollars, likely as a protest.

State officials say the number of unused licenses could throw off calculations for managing crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay.

Watermen will be notified this week whether their bids will be accepted. Those that aren't sold back face restrictions.

Virginia is running its own reverse auction for crab licenses, but Maryland has never held one before.