Emeril Expert Clip: John Page Williams, Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Seventy-five percent of the bluefish in the Atlantic Ocean currently come from the Chesapeake Bay. That's pretty incredible when you figure that this wasn't always the case. In a recent episode of Emeril Green, Captain Sonney Forrest of Fin Finders and John Page Williams of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation told Mike how in the 1980's overfishing caused a depletion in a number of fish species in the Chesapeake Bay. So much so in fact that from 1985 to 1989 there was a moratorium against fishing rockfish entirely (also known as striped bass). Rockfish were fast moving toward extinction. Considering what a valulable resource that fishing is in the Chesapeake Bay, this threatened to seriously hurt the bay economy.

Not to worry though, because today rockfish and bluefish are two abundant species that rate high on the "OK to Eat" list, but are often overlooked because they aren't as well known. Check out how Emeril prepared them in Emeril Green Episode: One Fish, Two Fish, Rockfish, Blue Fish. Today thanks to controlled fishing in the Chesapeake Bay as well as creative ideas like using the concrete from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to grow oysters, the bay is fighting back.