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YORKTOWN, Virginia (CNN) -- It's daybreak on Sara Creek, a sleepy backwater that sits near Yorktown, Virginia, and empties into the Chesapeake. The early morning fog slowly lifts to reveal the ripples of water, the boats swaying, and a picturesque harbor.

Local watermen have been fishing around this area for generations

It's beginning to rain, and Tommy Leggett, a very proud and reserved waterman, combs over his white beard with his rough hands and prepares his boat, "Chesapeake Gold," for what looks like a day of fishing out in the bay.

"I've been a waterman for over 20 years," he says.

The difference now is Leggett doesn't fish anymore. He's an eco-conscious farmer and advocate who works on his sustainable oyster farm in the James River. He uses the term "aquaculture" to describe what he's doing here. "It refers to the husbandry, or farming, of aquatic species."

Leggett sells the oysters he harvests to local restaurants, growing about 100,000 a year as a part-time business.

He makes sure he always has a product to replace the ones that he sells. He shares his expertise with other watermen, educating them about oyster aquaculture and the importance of sustainability

Leggett also sells his fresh products to the area market. "Customers want to know if the oysters they are buying are local, which means they're fresher and taste better."

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The Chesapeake Bay, which is the United States' largest estuary, covering more than 64,000 square miles and spanning across several states, has seen its fish, crab and oyster stocks dwindle, in part, because of pollution over the past several decades.

"It was once said that the oyster stock in the Chesapeake Bay could have filtered the entire volume of the bay, in a single day," says Leggett, who has been farming shellfish in the watershed since 1995.

"Most people don't think of oysters having come from farms, and historically they haven't. They've been harvested from the wild fishery, which is supplied by Mother Nature."

That wild fishery, which still exists today, has seen its share of setbacks. From disease to overharvesting, Leggett knows what's at stake, and he's trying to get the message out. "Oysters filter the water, and they provide habitat for other species. There are so many food webs that depend and rely on oysters."

Not only does Leggett farm, he also works for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) as the Virginia oyster and fishery scientist. He is trying to do his part to reverse the trends of depleting oyster stocks.

"If we don't restore oysters, we're not going to restore the Bay," he says. He wants to make sure people understand what just one single oyster can do. "One oyster out here in one of our bags can filter as much as 50 gallons of water a day."

By filtering the water, this important shellfish can take away deadly pollutants that eventually could deplete the crab and fish stocks, which in turn can leave fishermen without work.

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