March 31, 2014 — Dogfish, a voracious little shark that hunts in packs and fills its belly with anything it finds, now has so little value in the global marketplace that many fishermen who net them just throw them overboard.
And here’s the problem: Scientists say there are huge and growing numbers of dogfish in the Gulf of Maine competing for the same food as more commercially valuable species, such as cod and haddock.
“Their numbers are enormous,” said James Sulikowski, a biologist at the University of New England who has studied the species for years. “Dogfish have to eat. If they are strong and increasing in population, they will eat a lot of stuff. That stuff is what other species feed on as well.”
He said there are an estimated 230,000 metric tons of spawning dogfish – females of reproductive age – in the Gulf of Maine, compared with only 10,000 metric tons of spawning cod. That’s a 23-to-1 ratio.
Dogfish clog up fishing nets and damage gear, and fishermen are jabbed and poked by their teeth and pointy spines as they throw them back into the sea, said Rob Odlin, a Scarborough fisherman.
“We hate them with a passion,” he said. “We can’t sell them and they are everywhere.”
Two trends are moving in opposite directions: The species’ population is increasing while its commercial value is falling. Fishermen are paid around 14 cents a pound for them.
The fish, which grow to more than 3 feet in length, are found in seas around the world. On the East Coast of the United States, they spend their winters in the warmer coastal waters between southern New England and North Carolina. In the summer, they migrate to the cooler waters in the Gulf of Maine and farther north.
There has never been a domestic market for dogfish, although Europeans eat them in various ways. The British fry them for fish and chips, and the Germans smoke them. Asians put their fins in soups.
The meat is edible but not as tasty as more valuable fish, like cod, said James Armstrong, who manages the dogfish management plan for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald