A police officer was there when commercial watermen and recreational crabbers gathered in a Maryland church recently to talk about dwindling blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. It's a good thing, because tempers were short.

Hobbyist crabbers balked at arguments from the pros that crabs aren't so bad off and the harvest shouldn't be cut as severely as state regulators are considering.

The professional crabbers jeered at the recreational fishermen when they spoke in favor of reductions. More cuts expected in both Maryland and Virginia.

Maryland's harvest cuts would ratchet back the female catch in an effort to protect more reproducing adult females called sooks. Options include a new size limit, lower bushel limits and an all-out ban on catching sooks for several weeks in the fall. Virginia is considering similar options.

More details about potential cuts are expected Tuesday, when Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley meets with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine in Virginia to announce the results of a winter dredge survey.