Oct. 16--You want some Chilean sea bass --- maybe in a sweet soy broth like they serve at the Atlanta Fish Market? Get over it. 

Today more than 80 of Atlanta's top restaurants will join a campaign to stop serving the popular menu item until the species' fishery off the shores of Antarctica can recover from 20 years of rampant overharvesting, poaching and illegal trade. 

More than 800 restaurants nationwide have signed onto the campaign --- organized by the advocacy group National Environmental Trust --- and 700 others have agreed to remove the fish from their menus. The self-imposed ban will probably last a couple of years, say organizers. 

Among the local eateries joining the campaign are a who's who of Atlanta dining that includes Seeger's, Aria and Floataway Cafe. 

"It kills us to take it off the menu," said Robert Holley, executive chef at the Fish Market, who used to bomb through 1,200 pounds of Chilean sea bass per week. "We've been trying Australian sea bass but it's really not the same. People are complaining. I just got a letter from an unhappy customer." 

Indeed, diners love this fish for its soft, snow-white flesh and mild flavor. Chefs love the way it resists overcooking and welcomes any sauce. And ever since an enterprising importer changed its name from "Patagonian toothfish" to "Chilean sea bass" 20 years ago, restaurants have loved what it does for the bottom line. 

The fish first appeared in Los Angeles in 1982, a specimen caught in deep waters off Chile that importers couldn't find mention of in any current fish encyclopedia. But within two years, it was showing up on the menus in L.A.'s better restaurants. 

At that time, the specimens that came to market averaged 5 feet and 200 pounds. Now they average 2 feet and 20 pounds, a sure sign that the fishery, which circles Antarctica, is being depleted. 

Currently 24 fishing nations, including the United States, adhere to a treaty that limits the catch and sets a worldwide annual quota of 16,500 metric tons. Inland Seafood president Joel Knox contends this worldwide quota, if observed, should give the species time to repopulate. 

But a boycott? He derides it as "a publicity stunt for certain environmental organizations to raise money for themselves." 

"What you're doing is you're penalizing people who've followed the rules of harvesting," Knox said. He said he buys only from approved boats that fish in approved waters. 

Gerald Leape, director of the National Environmental Trust's marine conservation program, says the problem isn't the legal harvest, but the estimated 34,000 metric tons of sea bass that finds its way into world markets, including the United States, illegally. 

"If we can't eliminate the illegal fishing, it could be driven to commercial extinction in five years," Leape said. 

Chef Holley of the Atlanta Fish Market sees the writing on the wall. He's keeping the recipe for the signature Hong Kong-style sea bass with spinach and sticky rice. But now he's making it with tuna. 

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(c) 2002, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.