Dogfish, a Robust Stock, Attracts Attention
by Laurie Schreiber
PLYMOUTH, Mass. – The abundance of a small shark known as the spiny dogfish, in the waters of the Northeast, could provide alternative fishing opportunities and new markets.
At its September meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) worked out measures designed to smooth access to the fishery, while also ensuring that fishing operations are conducted at a sustainable level.
Dogfish is harvested for its sweet, mild flavor and its flaky but firm texture. The United States east coast North Atlantic fishery for spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) was awarded certification as a sustainable and well-managed fishery in August, by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a global nonprofit organization whose mission is “to promote the best environmental choice in seafood,” according to the MSC website.
The fishery operates year-round in federal and state waters off the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina and uses three gear types: gillnet, longline and otter trawl. In 2009, landings from all three gear types were approximately 3,300 metric tons, with gillnet accounting for approximately two-thirds of the total. Due to the strong recovery of the stock in recent years following the success of management measures such as low annual catch quotas and trip limits, fishery managers have been able to increase the allowable commercial catch. In the fishing year 2012-13, the limit is 16,101 metric tons. The primary commercial market is the European Union.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) manages the federal and state fisheries in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), the New England Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).
Dogfish was declared overfished by NMFS in 1998. Consequently, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act required NMFS to prepare measures to end overfishing and rebuild the stock.
A management plan was implemented in 2000. In 2010, NMFS declared the fishery as rebuilt; it is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.
In September, the NEFMC approved final measures to be included in Amendment 3 to the dogfish management plan. Those measures went to the MAFMC for its final approval in October.
The measures were: allocations of up to 3 percent of the commercial quota to fund cooperative research through a research set-aside program; updates to the essential fish habitat definitions; a provision that will continue the previous fishing year's management measures, including the quota, until they are replaced via rulemaking; and elimination of the seasonal allocation of the commercial quota.
Hearings held by the MAFMC on the proposed measures drew sparse attendance – not surprising, perhaps, since they were largely considered uncontroversial, noted NEFMC member David Pierce.
A review of essential fish habitat will explore whether recommendations made in 2000, the last time information on the animal and its habitat was reviewed, need to be updated, NEFMC members said. Specific definitions of life stages – juvenile and adult – will be improved.
The provision to maintain the previous year’s quota until new quotas are worked out was necessary to correct a loophole that imposes trip limits but no quota until a rulemaking process is completed for each new fishing year, NEFMC members said.
Perhaps the most important provision in the amendment addresses quota allocation, NEFMC members said.
The quota in federal waters is seasonally allocated. Nearly 58 percent of the quota may be harvested from May 1 through Oct. 31, and 42 percent from Nov. 1 through April 30.
But in 2009, the ASMFC shifted its approach to a geographic allocation of the quota for state waters.
The two approaches have created a conflict between federal and interstate plans, NEFMC members said.
The new approach, said NEFMC members, is intended to get federal management “out of the way” of state management, while still keeping federal waters open to state fisheries that haven’t yet met their quota.
“The reason for the seasonal split was the need to protect Mid-Atlantic fishermen, notably Virginia and North Carolina, from Massachusetts, because we landed all the dogfish,” said Pierce, who represents the state of Massachusetts on the NEFMC. “Seasonal allocation did the trick.”
Now, he said, northern and southern states have agreed that geographic allocation will do the job better, making the seasonal allocation no longer necessary.
The “coastwide” quota would remove the seasonal issue, explained MAFMC staffer Jim Armstrong.
“When the northern region, for example, has landed the last of its 58 percent of coastwide quota, then the fishery’s done,” Armstrong said. “Federal waters will still be open because other states are allowed to fish and they are being given access to federal waters. The downside would be knowing that, just three miles out, you could be in possession of dogfish that you can’t bring into Massachusetts. That’s the way it goes when you’ve been allocated a certain amount and it’s been landed.”
“I’ve always found that incredibly frustrating and pretty silly,” said NEFMC member Tom Dempsey. “I don’t believe that’s a consistent approach.”
Dempsey said it doesn’t make sense to “strand” quota in federal water, particularly on a robust stock such as dogfish, after a state has met its quota for state waters.
“And particularly at a time when we’re struggling for opportunities for fishermen in New England, I don’t see why we can’t continue to fish on federal quota,” Dempsey said. “State waters need to be closed when state waters need to be closed, but that doesn’t seem to be consistent with what we’re doing in other fisheries.”
With regard to the 3 percent research set-aside, it comes at an important time for the fishery, as it attracts increasing interest, said Pierce.
“Dogfish dominate the ecosystem in the New England area, and we on the New England council have a great interest in research that will be done,” he said.
Overall, Pierce said, the improvements were an “excellent example” of management bodies working cooperatively.
Implementation of Amendment 3 is expected by May 1, 2013.