Saving Seafood

Fishing group wants people to eat more dogfish, skates

June 1, 2017 — A Cape Cod commercial fishing group is promoting an effort to get more consumers to eat locally caught dogfish and skates in restaurants.

The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance is supporting “Pier to Plate” by working with more than 20 restaurants and markets on Cape Cod to get dogfish and skates to customers.

The alliance says commercial harvest of the two fish is high, but nearly all of the catch goes to Europe and Asia. Spiny dogfish are caught from Maine to North Carolina on the East Coast, and the catch grew from less than 4 million pounds in 2005 to nearly 19 million pounds in 2015.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen’s Alliance to Launch Program to Promote Dogfish, Skate

May 16, 2017 — The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance is launching a new program Memorial Day weekend to create demand for “under-loved” fish species caught in area waters.

Pier to Plate will see small-boat fishermen give free skate and dogfish throughout the summer to 20 restaurants, a fish market and catering company on the Lower Cape to serve to customers.

“This program is actually giving the fish to the restaurants for the summer to experiment with, play with, and serve to their clients,” said Nancy Civetta, the communications director for the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. “And that way we are hoping to just make them very popular because people will be more familiar with them if they find them on restaurant menus and in fish markets.”

The skate and dogfish, or Cape shark, are caught in abundance off Cape Cod and are mostly shipped overseas to be used in restaurants in Europe and Asia.

The goal of Pier to Plate is to make a consistent supply of these species available locally in an effort to support sustainable fishing on Cape Cod and familiarize residents, visitors and chefs with the fish swimming off the shore.

“We just aren’t landing as much cod and other groundfish as we used to here on Cape Cod,” Civetta said. “It’s a changing ecosystem out there. It’s still full of fish. It’s just different fish than we are used to eating.”

Civetta said the program is receiving support from the restaurant community as the Alliance has met with many around the Lower Cape.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape fishermen push dogfish, skate at expo

March 23, 2017 — Chatham fishermen Charlie Dodge, Jamie Eldredge, and Greg Connors walked the crowded aisles of the Seafood Expo North America Monday, one of the largest seafood shows in the world, drawing more than 21,000 attendees and exhibitors over three days.

The men were there to meet wholesale fish buyers and distributors looking to market their catch: skates — a kite-shaped fish related to sharks — and dogfish, a small coastal shark.

Dogfish and skates may not be ready to join heavyweights like salmon and shrimp, but with help from the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, as well as federal and state grants to assist with marketing, they are slowly gaining a foothold in domestic markets.

“It would be way better if it stays within the country,” Dodge said of dogfish, which, like skates is largely exported to Europe and Asia, and fetch relatively low prices, with skates at 23 cents per pound on average in 2015 and dogfish fluctuating between 11 cents and 22 cents per pound. In 2015, cod, by comparison, averaged $1.90 per pound.

Not long ago Chatham was one of the top cod ports in the country, but that stock is considered to be at historically low levels and landings state-wide collapsed from 27.5 million pounds in 2001 to 2.9 million pounds in 2015. Both skates and dogfish are plentiful and considered sustainably managed by organizations like the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch. That message — a local, sustainable and affordable fish — has helped convince institutional clients like the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Read the full story at Cape Cod 

Cape fishermen push dogfish, skate at expo

March 21, 2017 — Chatham fishermen Charlie Dodge, Jamie Eldredge, and Greg Connors walked the crowded aisles of the Seafood Expo North America Monday, one of the largest seafood shows in the world, drawing more than 21,000 attendees and exhibitors over three days.

The men were there to meet wholesale fish buyers and distributors looking to market their catch: skates — a kite-shaped fish related to sharks — and dogfish, a small coastal shark.

Dogfish and skates may not be ready to join heavyweights like salmon and shrimp, but with help from the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, as well as federal and state grants to assist with marketing, they are slowly gaining a foothold in domestic markets.

“It would be way better if it stays within the country,” Dodge said of dogfish, which, like skates is largely exported to Europe and Asia, and fetch relatively low prices, with skates at 23 cents per pound on average in 2015 and dogfish fluctuating between 11 cents and 22 cents per pound. In 2015, cod, by comparison, averaged $1.90 per pound.

Not long ago Chatham was one of the top cod ports in the country, but that stock is considered to be at historically low levels and landings state-wide collapsed from 27.5 million pounds in 2001 to 2.9 million pounds in 2015. Both skates and dogfish are plentiful and considered sustainably managed by organizations like the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch. That message — a local, sustainable and affordable fish — has helped convince institutional clients like the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Chatham Dogfish Goes To College

February 16, 2017 — Dogs are going to college and it’s not a case of affirmative action run amok. The Cape Cod Commercial Fisherman’s Alliance is spearheading a new program to get dogfish into university dining halls.

A new “from boat to campus” version of a fish-to-table program is putting the fish on the tables of some of America’s leading universities including Yale, UMass, and Ohio State.

UMass has already ordered thousands of pounds for this academic year, and Yale plans to feature spiny dogs for their next Thanksgiving feast.

Christopher Howland is director of purchasing for UMass. He says, “Supporting local and regional farmers and fishing communities is extremely important to our team at UMass Dining. We’re very excited to be able to feature local and sustainable dogfish on the menu. Our talented chefs have been able to develop creative recipes that our students love.”

Read the full story at The Cape Cod Chronicle

UMass Features New England Caught Dogfish on Cafeteria Menus as “Under Loved” Fish Specie

January 30, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — It may not have the tastiest name, but a University of Massachusetts chef says dogfish is becoming a popular fish on campus.

All the dining commons serve the fish — 400 to 500 pounds of it — as part of a fish fry every Friday night.

Bob Bankert, chef de cuisine for UMass Dining, said UMass began seeking alternatives to cod several years ago, and began serving dogfish in the fall.

“Cod is way over fished,” Bankert said.

Before arriving at dogfish, the dining halls also began serving other so-called “trash fish” such as pollock and redfish. 

But Bankert rejects the “trash fish” moniker — born from the practice of fisherman tossing such species out instead of bringing them to market — and instead calls fish like dogfish “under loved.”

Bankert said people don’t have problems with the idea of eating catfish — but some balk at the name “dogfish.”

Dogfish — a shark species also known as “cape shark” — is native to New England waters. But, about 90 percent of the harvest has been sent to England for that country’s fish and chips, Bankert said.

 He’s hoping that through word of mouth and focus on the fish, more people will try it and be able to find it at markets.

A few years ago, he said, shoppers couldn’t find fish like pollock or redfish in markets — and now they can.

UMass students are always open to trying new things — and, anyway, he said, “We know how to make it tasty.”

So, dogfish will stay on the menu.

Besides the fish fries, the dining halls serve dogfish in wraps once a week and in bouillabaisse or other fish stews.

Bankert described dogfish as not as flaky as cod or haddock, but not as thick as swordfish. He compared it to halibut in texture, with a stronger taste than cod.

Besides serving more plentiful native fish, dogfish is less expensive — and he said, “We’re supporting local fisheries.”

A recent PBS Newshour story on the fish has raised its profile, Bankert said, Boston Magazine published a story last summer.

He’s hoping more positive attention will do the same.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

UMass’s award-winning dining halls serving up tasty dogfish as chefs reject ‘trash fish’ moniker

January 27, 2017 — AMHERST, Mass. — It may not have the tastiest name, but a University of Massachusetts chef says dogfish is becoming a popular fish on campus.

All the dining commons serve the fish — 400 to 500 pounds of it — as part of a fish fry every Friday night.

Bob Bankert, chef de cuisine for UMass Dining, said UMass began seeking alternatives to cod several years ago, and began serving dogfish in the fall.

“Cod is way over fished,” Bankert said.

Before arriving at dogfish, the dining halls also began serving other so-called “trash fish” such as pollock and redfish.

But Bankert rejects the “trash fish” moniker — born from the practice of fisherman tossing such species out instead of bringing them to market — and instead calls fish like dogfish “under loved.”

Bankert said people don’t have problems with the idea of eating catfish — but some balk at the name “dogfish.”

A spiny dogfish swims along a stretch of sandy seafloor. UMass-Amherst serves the fish during a weekly fish fry. Matthew Lawrence, NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Dogfish — a shark species also known as “cape shark” — is native to New England waters. But, about 90 percent of the harvest has been sent to England for that country’s fish and chips, Bankert said.

He’s hoping that through word of mouth and focus on the fish, more people will try it and be able to find it at markets.

Read the full story at MassLive

Selling shark fins now banned in Rhode Island

January 3, 2017 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Selling shark fins is now banned in Rhode Island as it is in Massachusetts.

A law took effect Sunday that makes it a crime to own or sell a shark fin unless it’s used for scientific research or in preparing a shark for ordinary consumption.

Rhode Island became the 11th state to ban shark fin sales when Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed legislation into law in June. Hawaii was the first in 2010. Massachusetts banned the sales in 2014.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted in August to approve a new rule that allows fishermen to bring smooth dogfish, a type of shark, to land with fins removed, as long as their total retained catch is at least 25 percent smooth dogfish.

The rule change better incorporates the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 into management of the dogfish, staff with the fisheries commission said. Dogfish are harvested from Rhode Island to North Carolina, and are among the many shark species that fishermen bring to land in states from Maine to Texas.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

RHODE ISLAND: Assessing Environmental Impacts Of The Block Island Wind Farm

November 28, 2016 — The nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Block Island will start producing electricity any day now. It’s a pilot project that will change the way the people on this small island power their homes and businesses. They’ve relied on importing diesel fuel up to this point.

Today we bring you a story about another group that has a stake in this project: fishermen. A small crew of fishermen has been working with scientists to gather data and learn how fishing will or won’t change around the wind turbines.

Every month for the past four and a half years, Captain Rodman Sykes has sailed out toward the Block Island Sound with his crew and a small group of scientists.

They tow a fish net and scrape the seafloor twice in three different locations: within the area of the Block Island Wind Farm and in areas close to it for reference.

“Mostly skates, there’s a sea bass and a few small scup, sea robins, dog fish,” Sykes says aloud as he stands over the fish to inspect them each time his crew brings up the net and releases the catch. “Not much else, but a good sample. So we’ll go on to the next station.”

While Sykes redirects his vessel to the next sampling area, scientists get right to work: sorting fish by species, taking their weight, and measuring their length.

Read and listen to the full story at Rhode Island NPR

 

Hearings upcoming about proposed shark fin removal rules

May 20, 2016 — OLD LYME, Conn. — Interstate fishing regulators have scheduled public hearings about changes to rules that govern removal of fins from coastal sharks by fishermen.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is set to consider an amendment that would allow fishermen to bring smooth dogfish to land with fins removed as long as their total retained catch is at least 25 percent dogfish.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald