Fishermen in New England have been complaining about a rise in populations of spiny dogfish this summer, putting a dent in the stocks of fish that are more marketable, such as cod. Some have pulled up lines of hooks and found a spiny dogfish on almost every one. Or, they find a half-eaten fish on the hook decimated by a spiny dogfish.
Commercial fisherman Marty Buzas calls them the perfect predator. "They’re an eating machine. You name it and they eat it. The only real predator of a spiny dogfish is an octopus, and the ocean isn’t exactly teeming with octopus," said Buzas. That’s one reason Buzas has chosen his side on a debate raging about the spiny dogfish shark. When he dresses them out, he finds their stomachs full of fish that are more valuable, including mackerel, squid, butterfish and weakfish.