Instead of kneejerk responses to dogfish...

[clambelly]

Originally Posted by labrax

likwid - what I meant in my first post was that we have fished down the cod to levels so low that their numbers were not enough to 'quickly' rebound - the dogfish came in and filled their ecological role, which further keeps the cod numbers low as they have to compete for the same resources with the dogfish. The dogfish have taken advantage of the situation and seen their population take off.

agreed. another factor you left out is that dogfish are eating young cod. with the population of dogfish exploding and the cod stocks struggling to come back, that factor cannot be ignored.

[Swede]

I knew a Vietnamese guy that bought a boat and put it in the water at a yacht club in Southie. I met him at a building I did contract work at. I went fishing with him once. The Boat would not get on plane cause it had been in the water for 2 months with no bottom paint. . He kept every dog we caught and sold em at a market on Dot Ave somewhere. He got about 75 cents a pound. Not saying its right, but it paid for his gas, too bad he could'nt afford bottom paint. The bottom was covered with barnacles

[likwid]

Originally Posted by clambelly

agreed. another factor you left out is that dogfish are eating young cod. with the population of dogfish exploding and the cod stocks struggling to come back, that factor cannot be ignored.

now dogfish eating young cod i have a hard time believing considering they're almost exclusively scavengers.

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by likwid

now dogfish eating young cod i have a hard time believing considering they're almost exclusively scavengers.

I don't know where you get that information, but according to everything I've read and the NMFS/ASMFC studies they are voracious predators.

[likwid]

Got a link to said NMFS studies?

And attempting to save time I did some quick searching and found:

Local gillnet fisherman Dave Marciano said dogfish are vicious predators that compete with cod and other groundfish to eat herring and feed on juvenile cod, creating a nuisance for fishermen. Dogfish often clog his nets or eat groundfish caught in them, he said.

"They didn't get this abundant by being docile," he said. "They eat the cod, they eat the cod's food."

Wow, a FISHERMAN said that, not someone working for the NMFS or Woods Hole! Just like Omega Protein said Striped Bass were eating all the menhaden.

[JFigliuolo]

I KNOW they hit live eels. And I do mean HIT, hard.