2015: The Year in Dogfish

2015 turned out to be a pretty big year for the most under-appreciated sharks in the sea.  Now that it’s a new year that promises to offer more cool small shark science, it’s time for a look back at what happened with the spiny and…

Atlantic Spiny Dogfish Sustainability Certificate Suspended

In 2012, the Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery became one of the first shark fisheries to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (the first was another dogfish fishery, this one targeting North Pacific spiny dogfish in British Columbia waters).  The MSC is the…

Dogfish Fisheries: Too Successful for Their Own Good?

Things had been going pretty well for U.S. dogfish fisheries.  In June 2010, after half a decade of an essentially closed fishery, the U.S. Atlantic stock was considered rebuilt.  Shortly after, representatives of the fishery petitioned and successfully received sustainability certification from the Marine Stewardship…

U.S. Atlantic Spiny Dogfish: MSC Certified

After nearly two years of assessments and public comment, the U.S. Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery has officially been certified as Sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.  This makes it the second shark or ray fishery ever to get MSC certification, and is the first multi-gear,…

Sustainability for Atlantic Spiny Dogfish?

This week the U.S. Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery took another step towards becoming the second shark or ray fishery ever to earn a sustainability certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).  The first was the Pacific spiny dogfish fishery, which turned out to be a…

Atlantic Spiny Dogfish Fishery Closed

Chalk this up as yet another example of me missing the boat on something I should really be posting.  Earlier, I posted on the recent dramatic increase in the spiny dogfish quota, then the closure of the fishery in North Carolina a mere three months…

North Pacific Spiny Dogfish Get Labeled

The ongoing saga of whether spiny dogfish can truly be considered a “sustainable” fishery continues (tip o’ the hat to David).  North Pacific spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) were in consideration for Marine Stewardship Council sustainability certification a little less than a year ago, and now…

Harpoon Fishing is Totally Badass

Bycatch is a huge problem in commercial fishing operations.  The need to make trips out on the water worth the expenses of gas, gear, and work-hours means that often commercial gear is designed to capture as many fish as possible in the shortest amount of…

Sustainable Swordfish?

A while ago I wrote about the attempt to get the Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery certified as sustainable.  It seems the MSC has come under fire for certifying another fishery that has a significant impact on sharks: the Canadian swordfish longline fishery.  Due to issues…

Spiny Dogfish and the MSC – An Interview with Ian Scott

A big developing story in the world of spiny dogfish and fisheries management has been the petition to have the Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery MSC-certified for sustainability.  I’ve been following this story as information becomes available.  Adding some drama to the mix are accusations that…