Interstate Fisheries Management

Increasingly over the last two decades spiny dogfish have become an important commercial fishery, providing commercial fishing opportunities during a time when the harvest of other species was seriously curtailed. Although there is a low market demand in the US, the European market commonly sells spiny dogfish as fish and chips and pickled beer garden snacks. Over the last ten years, however, tremendous growth in the fishery has exceeded the availability of the resource and resulted in the development and implementation of stringent fishery management measures in federal waters, and subsequently complementary management measures in state waters. With these restrictions, overfishing is no longer occurring, but the spiny dogfish stock is overfished. Dogfish is a late maturing (~ 12 years old) species with a long gestation period (~ 2 years). These life history characteristics make for a lengthy rebuilding period (over 2 decades), yet dogfish is the most commonly seen shark species on the East Coast. <species profile> <stock status> <habitat fact sheet>

Contacts Christopher M. Vonderweidt, FMP Coordinator Management Board Chair, Louis Daniel Technical Committee Advisory Panel		Management Plans & Actions Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks (August 2008) Executive Summary only (Please note that despite being a low resolution file, file size is large and it may take time to download. Click here to request a high resolution copy on CD-ROM) Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfish (November 2002) Addendum I (November 2005) Addendum II (October 2008)
Upcoming Meetings		Annual Reports FMP Reviews 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 Stock Assessment Reports 43rd SAW (July 2006) 37 SAW Spiny Dogfish Advisory Report (May 2003) 37 SAW Spiny Dogfish Consensus Report (May 2003)
Pending Actions for Public Input		Dogfish Meeting & Minutes Summaries Coastal Sharks Meeting & Minutes Summaries
Press Releases VA and NC Schedule Public Hearings on Coastal Sharks Draft Addendum (May 28, 2009) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Shark Board Approves Smooth Dogfish Draft Addendum for Public Comment (May 7, 2009) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves Initiation of Smooth Dogfish Addendum (February 5, 2009) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Sets 2009/2010 Fishing Year Quota at 12 Million Pounds (October 23, 2008) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves Addendum II (October 22, 2008) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves Draft Addenda II and III for Public Comment (August 22, 2008) ASMFC Approves Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks (August 21, 2008) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Initiates Two Addenda to Address Quota Allocation (May 8, 2008) ASMFC Releases Draft Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks for Public Comment (January 7, 2008) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Sets 2008/2009 Fishing Year Quota at 8 Million Pounds (October 30, 2007) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Revises 2006/2007 Quota and Sets Specifications for 2007/2008 Fishing Year (October 24, 2006) Atlantic Coastal States Schedule Public Meetings to Gather Input on Coastal Sharks PID (May 5, 2006) ASMFC Releases Coastal Sharks PID for Public Comment (May 1, 2006) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves 4 Million Pound Quota for the 2006/2007 Fishing Year (November 2, 2005) ASMFC Releases Draft Addendum I to the Spiny Dogfish FMP for Public Comment: Comment Accepted until September 26, 2005 (September 6, 2005) Draft Addendum I to the Spiny Dogfish FMP Approved for Public Comment (August 18, 2005) ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves 4 Million Pound Quota for 2005 – 2006 Fishing Year (November 10, 2004)