Many years ago, the Chesapeake Bay’s seafood bounty — like hidden pirate treasure — generated its share of human conflict.

Among the most memorable was the Oyster Wars, a series of clashes dating back to the 1830s with scalawags descending from all over, looking to cash in on the valuable bivalves. Later, the skirmishes mostly involved watermen from Maryland and Virginia looking to harvest more than state laws allowed.

In those 19th-century days, watermen didn’t just bring on board tongs or dredges to collect oysters when they left the dock; you can bet they had some weaponry too.

Those days are long gone, of course, but they are, hopefully, not entirely forgotten. Last month’s decision by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to repeal a ban on winter dredging of blue crabs — a rule that for the last 15 years has protected the Bay’s vital female crab population — feels a bit like a broadside across the bow from a neighboring state.

Officials in Maryland are upset by this prospect. So are many environmentalists. Even the VMRC’s own staff had recommended against lifting the dredge ban as they, too, expressed concern that reducing the number of females could significantly reduce future harvests.

Blue crabs are big business. They are the Bay’s most valuable seafood, surpassing oysters with dockside values in the tens of millions of dollars. Yet Virginia’s decision seems like no more than a sop to watermen in that state who face rising costs but so-so harvests.

One major reason watermen are hurting is that, according to the most recent winter stock assessment, the number of adult female crabs in the Chesapeake has declined by nearly 20 million from 152 million last year to 133 million this year. Experts believe the Bay needs to sustain a population of 215 million.

Maryland watermen are at a clear disadvantage. Female crabs migrate to Virginia waters late in the year and settle into the mud where they lie dormant through the winter.

We would call on the commonwealth to do the neighborly thing and let them be. Steam crabs, crab cakes, crab imperial and so on should be the culinary joy that binds our two states. Let’s be responsible about preserving the tasty crustaceans and not go full Long John Silver on them.