Doggy problem…….

[wyldbillnj]

Yup. The dogfish are terrible creatures. Just ruin your day when you have to keep moving to avoid the dang things. Thank god for the spot lock...can pickup quickly and move somewhere else once you get covered up. A couple times had dogfish either spiny or smooth and a sea bass on at the same time.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Was bottom fishing up Glouster for Cod and Pollack and you'd be reeling in huge double doggies, I'm talking the size of your leg and that's no fun when your fishing in 100 feet of water.

You'd drop the clams down, catch a few Cod or Pollack and in 10 mins the doggies would move in. Captain would have us reel in and keep the baits out of the water for 10 mins or so, drop back down catch a few more fish, rinse and repeat all day, no matter where you went.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Was bottom fishing up Glouster for Cod and Pollack and you'd be reeling in huge double doggies, I'm talking the size of your leg and that's no fun when your fishing in 100 feet of water.

You'd drop the clams down, catch a few Cod or Pollack and in 10 mins the doggies would move in. Captain would have us reel in and keep the baits out of the water for 10 mins or so, drop back down catch a few more fish, rinse and repeat all day, no matter where you went.

Gerry thanks for removing the later posts on this thread, certainly not the governing rules or how the site was built. I happen to agree with the spirit of the comment but the delivery was tough.

More important, if these fish are so important to Europe in fish and chips or however they serve them or possibly Asia, I'm curious why NMFS doesn't increase the harvest levels for commercials to alleviate the problem, reduce the harvest of other domestic species to take the pressure off those stocks or in doing so will that create an imbalance in the food chain we're not aware of. This issue has been discussed forever but NEVER goes anywhere. NMFS has no problem implementing egregious regulations which come with adverse consequences but ignore a stock which appears to be more of a nuisance fish domestically yet having strong market demand internationally. Seems like a perfect way to increase commercial catch values while protecting more lucrative domestic stocks for both the recreational and commercial sectors.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

Gerry thanks for removing the later posts on this thread, certainly not the governing rules or how the site was built. I happen to agree with the spirit of the comment but the delivery was tough.

More important, if these fish are so important to Europe in fish and chips or however they serve them or possibly Asia, I'm curious why NMFS doesn't increase the harvest levels for commercials to alleviate the problem, reduce the harvest of other domestic species to take the pressure off those stocks or in doing so will that create an imbalance in the food chain we're not aware of. This issue has been discussed forever but NEVER goes anywhere. NMFS has no problem implementing egregious regulations which come with adverse consequences but ignore a stock which appears to be more of a nuisance fish domestically yet having strong market demand internationally. Seems like a perfect way to increase commercial catch values while protecting more lucrative domestic stocks for both the recreational and commercial sectors.

They cut the quota , so guys that were fishing for them stopped.
Not enough profit to run the boat at their current limits .
.

[bulletbob]

honestly, does NMFS ever get anything right?

protecting dogfish-really?.. Whats next? oyster crackers?
Bergals maybe?

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

They cut the quota , so guys that were fishing for them stopped.
Not enough profit to run the boat at their current limits .
.

I believe you Dan but based on reports the stock is thriving, cutting quotas for a fish which only has commercial value makes no sense. There are predators that eat dogfish but it's not like bunker we're talking about. I've read other sharks, bluefin tuna, monk fish etc. feed on them but all indications are the stock is thriving. Maybe foreign market prices doesn't make it economically feasible for commercials to target them so NMFS just cut quotas if they weren't being harvested.