limits on catches of the fish their stock seemed inexhaustible except they weren't overfishing brotman haydon close to extinction in the 1960 s. by which point the whales had already left a make up protein believes there is no danger of that happening again thanks to the quota there's no overfishing going on and the fact is that the fishery only takes you know about 6 to 8 percent of the biomass every year 68 percent and the other $94.00 to $96.00 or so percent of that biomass is left out there to to service ecological purpose. no menhaden no humpback whales a simple enough equation. but the figures cited by the fishing industry are disputed by scientists who are opposed to any increase in the permitted fishing photos other animals such as the sea hawk also feed on the menhaden it's a pivotal element of the entire ecosystem. for we join researcher alan pickett's from long island stony brook university for a trip on her research ship they're studying the biodiversity here in chicago bay which serves as a kind of nursery for a range of atlantic fish including many hayden using bait made of muzz