ANNAPOLIS — In the late 2000s, Chesapeake Bay blue crabs were in dire shape. The population fell by 63% percent between 1990 and 2008, and there was a decade of accompanying record-low harvests. But a series of regulations combined with intensive analysis of the species brought the crustacean back from the brink, a statement from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said last week.

Now, blue crabs are doing much better than they had been, but questions remain about the future of the iconic shellfish, which has seen five consecutive years of below average numbers of juvenile crabs. Scientists are working on a new stock assessment to figure out why, and to look at what can be done to best protect the crab and the crab fishery in the future.

With this new assessment underway, DNR scientists are looking back at the last assessment and related management decisions from nearly 20 years ago — both as a model for collaborative management and a foundation to continue to build from.

It took a lot of collaboration between Maryland, Virginia, and the Potomac Rivers Fisheries Commission, as well as many sacrifices from watermen and the crabbing community, but it resulted in what Virginia's then secretary of natural resources called "one of the most successful fishery stock rebuilding programs ever, anywhere."

“Scientists say we have a lot to learn from that moment and from the ensuing years of collaborative and science-based management of the blue crab,” the statement said.