NEWPORT NEWS -- State regulators approved a one-year ban on winter crab dredging and a shortened autumn crab-pot season in an effort to prevent the economically important blue crab population from collapsing.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission approved the measures in separate 7-2 votes yesterday after debate among members who said that the steps will put watermen out of business.

Commission member Rick Robins called the decisions "a tragic compromise" to save what's left of Virginia's dwindling crab population and the struggling fishing industry that depends on it.

The dredge ban affects about 150 captains and crewmen in the 50-boat fleet that continued to pursue that fishery this winter. The decision to close the crab-pot season a month early on Oct. 27 will affect about 400 watermen.

The certainty that the steps will cost watermen income prompted commission members to urge state government to do what it can to compensate for lost income, especially on Tangier Island, where job options are limited. -- Lawrence Latané III