reporter: the menhaden are a big deal in reedville. until recently there were no official limits on catches of the fish. their stocks seemed inexhaustible, except they weren't. overfishing brought menhaden close to extinctioion in the 1960's, byby which point t the whales had a already left. omega protein insists there is no danger of that happening again, thanks to the quota. monty: there's no overfishing going on. and the fact is that the fishery only takes about 6% to 8% of the biomass every year. 6% to 8%. the other 94% to 96% of that biomass is left out there to serve its ecological purpose. reporter: no menhaden, no huhumpbackhaleles -- simplple serve enoughquation. purpose. but the figugures cited byby e fiining indury a are disputed dy scientists, who are opposed to any increase in the permitted fishing quotas. other animals such as the sea-hawk also feed o othe menhaden. it's a pivotal element of the entire ecosystem. we join researcher ellen pikitch from long island's stony brook university for a trip on her research ship. th