Sea Bass

Rockfish, it seems, get most of the attention as species of fish successfully restored after decades of overfishing in bay and coastal waters of Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states. However, there are indications that flounder, croaker and sea trout also are rebounding from years of over-exploitation.Croaker, of course, have been larger and more numerous in the Chesapeake Bay than has been the case for many years, and state fisheries biologists say the repeated annual abundance may ensure a strong future.

WHEN A CHEF GIVES a simple dish remarkable flavor, there are a few things I want to know. Namely, how did he do that, and can I do the same thing at home?Recently I found myself grilling two different chefs about two different dishes. First I ate some braised sea bass with dried tomatoes, whipped up by chef Roberto Donna at the Great Chefs' Dinner, a benefit for the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Maryland held at Linwood's restaurant. Donna, who owns Galileo restaurant in Washington, was joined in the kitchen by his friend, Francesco Ricchi, chef of Bice restaurant in Washington.

Bob Dobart has been around. Former Baltimore County policeman. Former B.A.S.S. touring pro. Top regional and local bass fisherman. Entrepreneur behind the popular Bass Expo that has been held each winter at the State Fairgrounds in Timonium for more than a decade.This year, Dobart has expanded his horizons with the Bass Expo, Saltwater Fishing and Fly Fishing Show, which runs from Thursday to next Sunday at the fairgrounds."After 12 years, I just felt the show was getting a little stale," said Dobart, 49. "It was just time for a change, and of course you are always looking to make things different and better."

The recent three-day O.C. Shark Tournament was won by the angler who checked in the first shark of the competition -- 10-year-old Spiro Gianniottis of Washington, who caught a 263-pound mako on June 19.The sixth-grader was fishing with his father, Pano, and Scott Raines, both of whom are avid offshore anglers. But for Spiro, his dad said, the shark competition was an initiation to "harder fishing" than their usual father-son trips for bluefish or sea bass."Sharks are the toughest to reel in," said Spiro, nonplused after the first-day weigh-ins.

The Maryland Sportfishing Tournament, which encompasses freshwater, Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean off the state's coastline, has been revamped this year, including an All-Maryland Angler division."

When assessing the past year, I tend to avoid the broad, objective overview and concentrate on the narrow, prejudiced underview. From my perspective, the basic question asked of 1995 should be "What did it taste like?" Here are my answers.It was a so-so year for crabs. The steamed crabs I bought this summer were small, light and lacking that marvelous moist meat that can make the Chesapeake Bay blue crabs one of the best dishes in the world. It wasn't until the fall that I found some steamed crabs that I regarded as true to form.

The most currently friendly food for our health happens to be fish. Lucky for us that one of the best varieties, the Chesapeake striped bass or rockfish, is once again plentiful and available since the ban has been lifted.The Mediterranean region knows how to cook fish simply, yet with flavor so that the freshest ingredients are showcased. The following recipe comes from a major new book with sweeping photographs, "Mediterranean The Beautiful Cookbook" by Joyce Goldstein. The recipes are inspiring in their simplicity and you will find most of the items for this one in your pantry.

The summer's sea bass blitz is on center stage for vacationers and weekend visitors fishing out of Ocean City.On a rainy, stormy day in midweek I joined Glen Burnie's Chris Jensen and Bill Bates aboard the OC Princess and brought home a dozen of the bluish-black bass.Both Anne Arundel anglers make this trip throughout the early summer months, and Bates even made plans to return during the weekend.The OC Princess, which operates out of Shantytown Pier, is 3 years old and pure state-of-the-art headboating.

Ocean City party boats are reeling in plenty of black sea bass.After a one- to two-hour ride to an offshore wreck, the captain carefully positions the party boat over the wreck so all the anglers can fish over it. The fish are attracted to these wrecks because there are so many places in them to hide and food is plentiful.When the captain shouts, "Put 'em down folks," everyone drops their 6- to 8-ounce sinker and No. 1/0 wide-gap hooks to the bottom and waits for the first bite. It is usually only seconds before anglers begin to catch sea bass averaging 1 to 3 pounds.

An Ocean City charter boat breaks through the inlet on its first offshore bluefishing trip. The fog lying over the eastern seaboard makes it seem more like a day in New England than a May day in Ocean City. But the anglers do not mind; their minds are on bluefish.The captain nervously scans the bit of the horizon he can see, hoping the fish are out there.Suddenly the fog lifts, and the sight is one of wonder. Just offshore of the Five Mile Buoy, as far as the eye can see, is a huge school of bluefish boiling on the surface.

Hungry for fish at P.F. Chang's China Bistro? The Hot Fish, with crispy catfish slices in a Szechwan sauce, sounds fun, but its calorie and fat counts are steep. If you choose the Oolong Marinated Sea Bass instead, you'll save a whopping 817 calories and 59 grams of fat, including 11 grams of saturated fat, along with 71 grams carbohydrate. Hot Fish Per serving: 1,338 calories 60 grams protein 71 grams fat 14 grams saturated fat 111 grams carbohydrate 8 grams fiber Oolong Marinated Sea Bass Per serving: 521 calories 64 grams protein 12 grams fat 3 grams saturated fat 40 grams carbohydrate 3 grams fiber Nutritional analysis and photos from P.F. Chang's China Bistro.

Prettyboy Reservoir -- Joe Butta reports similar conditions, water 7 feet down, with largemouth and smallmouth bass still suspended over deep water structures. They're best caught when they leave the structures to feed, with crankbaits, plastics or jigs. Liberty Resevoir -- Doug Geis at Old Reisterstown Bait and Tackle says anglers are catching smallmouth and largemouth bass, at weights as heavy as 6 pounds on live shiners and nightcrawlers. Catfish and white crappies are starting to pick up. He predicts cloud cover could help the number of catches.

Newly released government data provide the best evidence to date that some cans of light tuna - one of America's favorite seafoods - contain high levels of the toxic metal mercury. Testing by the Food and Drug Administration found that 6 percent of canned light tuna samples contained large amounts of mercury, which can cause learning disabilities in children and neurological problems in adults. The government has stated that canned light tuna is low in mercury and a good choice for pregnant women and young children.

You know how some places just look like they have a sticky floor, even if the floor is perfectly clean? Well, that's Huckas. The cavernous Canton restaurant and bar has a pocked, black cement floor that looks like it belongs in a fraternity-house basement. The shapeless interior, lined with a few booths and dotted with tall round tables, is large enough to hold 1,000 people, according to vice president of operations Vernon May. Huckas has four bar areas, plus about a million televisions, all turned to sports.

This recipe from Jerry Edwards, owner of Chef's Express restaurant, calls for either sea bass or rockfish. HERB-CRUSTED SEA BASS OVER PANCETTA HASH Makes 4 servings SEA BASS 1 / 2 bunch fresh basil (about 12 leaves) 1 / 4 bunch fresh parsley 1 / 2 bunch fresh thyme 2 tablespoons butter 1 / 2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs four 4- to 6-ounce filets of Chilean sea bass or rockfish In food processor, blend herbs, then add butter. Remove to bowl and add breadcrumbs, blending until smooth.

Mark Schek, chef and co-owner of the Rooster Cafe in Elkridge, offers a recipe for an "easy fish dish" that can be baked in the oven in 25 minutes. Baked Sea Bass With Fresh Lemon, Wine and Oregano Serves 2 Two 10-ounce whole sea bass, bone in 3 teaspoons sea salt 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 8 full sprigs of oregano (or marjoram, if available) 1 very fresh, ripe lemon 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil One 12-by-14-inch rectangle of heavy-duty aluminum foil 3 tablespoons of dry white wine Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Ocean Friendly Cuisine is a two-handed coffee-table book. It is a gorgeous picture book. It is an excellent resource book on well-managed as well as endangered edible seafood. But it isn't a very good cookbook. Perhaps because it was written by a photographer and environmentalist but not a cook, James O. Fraioli's Ocean Friendly Cuisine: Sustainable Seafood Recipes From the World's Finest Chefs (Winter Creek Press, 2005, $35) is more pleasing to read than it is to cook out of. Fraioli's purpose is well-meaning: The human appetite for seafood is putting enormous stresses on the oceans of the world and the creatures that live there.

This year, let your grilling adventures take you beyond steaks and burgers. Try grilling fish, for a change. It isn't as difficult as you may think. The folks at Weber-Stephen Products say you just need to keep a couple of things in mind. To test the fish for doneness, slide a sharp knife between the layers of the meat, then turn it slightly to get a good look inside. If the meat still looks translucent in the middle, grill it another minute or two. And remember, always put a little oil on your fish before grilling it to prevent sticking.

In some ways, it seems unfair to criticize Pisces for what it is: a restaurant that caters to business travelers to whom money is not much of an object. For all I know, that's all it wants to be. The Hyatt Re-gency's upscale dining room is a very good place to relax, have a drink and enjoy a meal at the end of a hard day at somebody else's office. But if you're not on an expense account, you may go into sticker shock when you see the prices. For these people -- and I count myself among them -- the food and service better be darn near perfect.

Some cooks dream of roaming through the outdoor markets of exotic lands and learning regional specialties from the locals. If you've never lived that fantasy you can at least benefit from the experiences of Chris and Carolyn Caldicott, who have produced an ambitious, beautiful and informative book that will whet the appetites of both cooks and travelers. In The Spice Routes (Publishers Group West, $35) they offer an accessible culinary guide to the most famous of these routes: the overland Silk Route and China, the Mediterranean path the Phoenicians traveled carrying spices through Europe and the routes taken by Arab caravans and the Venetians.