Dogfish

[stushu]

I caught a 50" dogfish from the north shore of Jamestown, RI while casting eels. My father once told me that my Italian grandparents would eat the dogsifh that they caught in the bay many years ago when the dogfish were less common, so I decided that I too would eat my dogfish. After getting back to the house I cleaned the fish and was amazed by the quality/color of the filet and how easy the fish was to clean. I cooked the meat the next evening and it was excellent! I only mention this because I have seen fisherman simply slice off the heads of dogfish and throw them back in the water. I realize they are considered a pain by many fisherman and lobsters alike, but they are certainly worth eating in my opinion! A little garlic, sweet onion, fresh tomato, roasted red peppers, lemon and bread crumbs! Anyone else have any experience with dogs?

[Striperjim]

Stush
Try typing recipe in the search feature. There is some cool stuff in there on the dog fish
woof.

[Little Ricky]

I only mention this because I have seen fisherman simply slice off the heads of dogfish and throw them back in the water. I realize they are considered a pain by many fisherman and lobsters alike, but they are certainly worth eating in my opinion!

Should not kill anything unless you are gone to eat it or use it for bait no matter how much of a pain.Nice post just my feeling towards unsportsmanship sightings.

[Roccus]

This is a touchy issue, dogfish are ruining the ecosystem, we allow mid
water trawling to devastateherringcod and haddock stocks but do nothing to curb the population explosion of these nuisance predators, obviously you dont get out on the water much, these things have taken over,at times it is utterlu IMPOSIBLE to put any type of lure or bait in the water without it being devourd by a pack of dogfish, it is comon to see acres of these maurading, ravenous predators finning on top of the water,as I type this all tuna fishing on Jeferies ledge short of trolling a squid rig is impossible due to the shear number of dogfish ,party boat have to give up to try tofind dog free waters...YOY herring(and adults) as well as YOY cod,haddock,fluke and flounder are being devoured by these ruthless water wolves, I'm as big on conservation as they come, I've caught over hundreds of bass this year most over 20 lbs, I've released all but two, I will never, Imean NEVER release a dogfish....alive, thats the least that I can do for the enviroment,besides, lobsters and crabs need to eat too! So eat your doggies!

[Little Ricky]

Originally Posted by Roccus

This is a touchy issue, dogfish are ruining the ecosystem, we allow mid
water trawling to devastateherringcod and haddock stocks but do nothing to curb the population explosion of these nuisance predators, obviously you dont get out on the water much, these things have taken over,at times it is utterlu IMPOSIBLE to put any type of lure or bait in the water without it being devourd by a pack of dogfish, it is comon to see acres of these maurading, ravenous predators finning on top of the water,as I type this all tuna fishing on Jeferies ledge short of trolling a squid rig is impossible due to the shear number of dogfish ,party boat have to give up to try tofind dog free waters...YOY herring(and adults) as well as YOY cod,haddock,fluke and flounder are being devoured by these ruthless water wolves, I'm as big on conservation as they come, I've caught over hundreds of bass this year most over 20 lbs, I've released all but two, I will never, Imean NEVER release a dogfish....alive, thats the least that I can do for the enviroment,besides, lobsters and crabs need to eat too! So eat your doggies!

I do get on the water alot, but fish I believe different waters than you or for different species at times.We all have different toughts and ways that I respect.Am I gone to get in a argument NO! Just that this is the way I fish ,do not kill unless eat or it something that will kill me.Doggies do not attack me to hurt.Annoying yes! I just have to much patience on the water I guess.

[Roccus]

I only stated the facts......

[Little Ricky]

Originally Posted by Roccus

I only stated the facts......

Question do you get the many BROWN sharks in your area of fish as well?

[Roccus]

if we had as many of ANY shark species there wouldn't be a fish left in the sea...

It's one of those things I guess you need to see to fully understand, I commend you on your environmental stand and understand fully your attitude towards it, mine is the same, I just tell it like it is, you spoke of patients, I have the patients of a steel trap, this in not just a problem in my area, it is wide spread from New jersey to Maine, there are numerous restrictions on what we can and cannot harvest from the sea, it pains many watermen, not just myself to see the defiance of the people that can help control this problem, the science is flawed, the numbers are well documented, just recently the commercial quota was raised slightly for dogfish, hopefully through better science, less politics and a better understanding of what has caused this population explosion and maintain it at a ecologically safe level then we can help bring back the herring stocks that are now severely depleted, river herring in our state are on a moratorium, sea herring are being harvested by relentless midwater trawls, cod stocks are close to collapse on the inshore grounds, as I said before the relentless packs of dogfish are cleaning out the inshore nurseries, couple that with the net fishery for cod and other inshore species and we have huge fishery problems, if someone doesn't come up with a solution soon there will only be dogfish in and offshore and that wont benefit anyone... viva la fish and chips... England style!

Hope you have a great fall and get the fish of your dreams...

tight lines
Roc

[steveb]

ROCCUS!!

[Little Ricky]

No interest in Fish and chip doggie. Do something before they come down to me. .That is why I like this site you learn about waters I do not fish as well as my own waters.Good Luck and I wish you a fish of your dreams and not a doggie.

[Striperjim]

Rick as an aside:
The spiny dogfish that is so abundant up North is actually a
bit different than the ones that are prevalent around Delaware Bay.
The two nusaince species are The spiny dogfish and the smooth dogfish
The spiny dogfish,
Squalus acanthias, has a sharp
spine just in front of both dorsal fins, and dorsal rows of small
light-colored spots as well as a somewhat different body shape
Comparing the two
It prefers colder waters than the more uniformly gray-colored
Mustelus.
The spiny dogfish ("dogfish" or "dog" in common parlance) makes up for the comparative rarity of other sharks in the Gulf of Maine by its obnoxious abundance.
To mention all the localities from which it has been reported there would be simply to list every seaside village and fishing ground from Cape Cod to Cape Sable. It is as familiar, too, on the offshore banks as it is along the coast
Dogfish are seasonal visitors on the coast, striking in about as early along New Jersey (March), and even on Georges Bank (March-April), as along North Carolina.
In the inner parts of the Gulf of Maine the date of the first heavy run of dogfish varies widely from year to year and from place to place.
The smooth dogfish Mustelus canis
Although they lack sharp teeth and almost never try to bite when handled,
smooth dogfish are still members of the shark family. As such they are
quite powerful, and even a small dogfish can inflict scratches and scrapes
on the skin of one's arm with a slap of its body while attempting swimming-like escape movements during handling. The fish feels very smooth when stroked from anterior to posterior, but quite rough in the opposite direction.
This species of shark occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean. It ranges from the Bay of Fundy to Uruguay. It is a common shark in the waters off Cape Cod to Delaware Bay, and overwinters from Chesapeake Bay to South Carolina.

[Saltwater1975]

I thought there was an endangered species as well but I could be wrong.

[Striperjim]

Beleive it or not.
These are on the protected species list.
This is part of the reasoning. It has to do with Bycatch discards and biomass. They say the population has declined since the 90's. Specifically mature female biomass (individuals >= 80 cm ) has declined over 70%.
Non scientific observation reveals however the numbers of fish appear to be increasing, just ask a New england Fisherman.
This fish threatens to wipe out the forage available to all other species if not properly managed.
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/sos/spsyn/op/dogfish/

Click on the link for the news at this link and read the article based on Research Shows Dogfish Management Based On Flawed Data http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks...nydogfish.html

[Roccus]

The only thing threating them is any fisherman in the N/E that posseses a knife.....

Friend of mine attemted to fish jefferies yesterday, chunking for tuna... Ha-Ha..... the dogs circled the boat like custers last stand, after several moves, as far as 25 miles, they gave up and went home, at one stop that appeared to be free of the green eyed demons, thye dropped thier bait net in 300' of water, then set up on a 200' edge, after a half hour they attempted to haul their bait net, it was so plugged with dogs that they had to have help from another boat with a comealong to winch it in..... the net was ruined and so was the day.... tell those guys that there are a shortage of these things... the people making the regulations need to spend more time on the water and less time having meetings about things they know nothing about...

[Shocktherapy]

well said