Scientific name: |
Squalus acanthias |
Other names: |
koinga, kaaraerae, mako-huarau, mangoo-hapuu, mango-pekepeke (Maori), spurdog, spineback, spiky dogfish, spiky, southern spiny dogfish, spotted spiny dogfish, rock salmon (UK), gob sang eo (Korea) |
Spiny dogfish is a worst choice seafood. A better alternative is
This small shark species has moderate growth and low reproductive rates. It lives near the seafloor, in deeper waters between 100-700 metres. It occurs almost worldwide in cool temperate waters. In New Zealand they are most commonly found off the south and east coasts of the South Island. Spiny dogfish is mainly caught as bycatch in several deepwater trawl fisheries, but also by inshore trawlers, set netters and longliners.
Spiny dogfish is primarily caught in bottom trawl fisheries. Concern about this fishery includes the limited research on this species, the absence of a quantitative stock assessment, which results in the unknown sustainability of current catch limits, the uncertainty about stock boundaries, and the absence of a management plan. Also of concern is the impact of bottom trawling on seabed habitats and, due to the association with other fisheries (e.g. hoki) where it is caught, seabird, fur seal, and fish bycatch.
While there is no operational plan for spiny dogfish, in 2013 a revised New Zealand National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks was developed. This included a requirement that fins and bodies must be returned from sea together from 1 October 2014. However, there are no specific conservation actions for spiny dogfish, nor is there any difference in its management from the status quo. Spiny dogfish was ranked seventh on the initial risk assessment on all chondricthyans (Ford et al, 2015.)
Not certified under any scheme.
Spiny dogfish is sold in New Zealand and is exported, mainly to South Korea (40%), Russia and UK with a value of $910,00 in 2015, down from $2.5 million in 2009. Total shark, ray and skates exports in 2015 was $31.33 million, of which only $373,000 was shark fins, mainly (95%) exported to Singapore. New Zealand is among the top 20 global exporters of shark product.
Asssessment output
No regional or fishing method difference. As spiny dogfish is primarily caught by bottom trawl this fishing method was assessed.
| Score: | D |
| Population size: | No estimates of current or reference biomass. |
| Annual catch limit: | Limit was set at 12,660 since 2004-05. |
| Recorded catch: | Reported landings of 6312 tonnes in 2014-15, less than half the TACC. |
| Stock trends: | There was an upward trend in trawl survey indices for the Chatham Rise (1991-2011) and West Coast South Island (1992-2011). |
| MSY Status: | Uncertain. |
| The Ministry of Primary Industries assessment plenary report includes: | No estimates of current or reference biomass are available.” “Although reported commercial catches of spiny dogfish were observed to increase in all major FMAs during the 1990s, the extent to which these increases can be attributed to changes in reporting practice (i.e., more accurate reporting of discards in recent times) is uncertain. Trawl surveys, on the other hand, indicate that there was a general increase in the abundance of spiny dogfish, particularly around the South Island, in the mid-1990s.” (MPI 2016, p 1369). |
| Score: | D |
| Distribution: | Most common off the south and east coasts of the South Island at depths of 100-700m, but also occurs on the Chatham Rise and northern Campbell Plateau. |
| Maximum age (years): | 26 years female, 21 years male |
| Age at sexual maturity: | 6-10 |
| Growth rate: | Moderate |
| Reproductive output: | Low. Female fish produce 1 to 19 live young per litter, with a gestation period of 24 months and fecundity of <1-10 per year. |
| Age exploited: | 4 (uncertain) |
| Ability to recover: | Low |
| Score: | E |
| Fishing method(s): | Bottom trawling, set netting and longlining. Spiny dogfish is mainly caught as bycatch in a range of bottom trawl fisheries, including hoki, barracouta, jack mackerel, arrow squid, and red cod. It is also caught by inshore bottom trawlers. |
| Habitat damage: | Bottom trawling destroys sea floor species assemblages and fragile seamount habitats. It decimates black coral, lace corals, colourful sponge fields, long-lived bryozoans and many other invertebrate species. Bottom trawl impacts include habitat modification, loss of biodiversity, loss of benthic productivity, modification of important breeding and juvenile fish habitat. The trawl footprint area and contact areas vary, but the Snares Shelf area, the Auckland Islands shelf, West Coast South Island, and northwest and southwest Chatham Rise were identified as amongst the highest frequency trawled areas in the New Zealand zone. |
| Habitat of particular significance: | hasn’t been defined in New Zealand. |
| Bycatch: | As spiny dogfish is caught in other target fisheries, it is associated with a wide range of non-target catch and non-target fish. Spiny dogfish has a high discard rate in most fisheries: from 15% in QMA1 to 78% in QMA9, and six out of the nine QMAs have discard rates over 50%. See hoki, arrow squid, barracouta and jack mackerel for more information. |
| Ecological effects: | As with most sharks, spiny dogfish is an important predator so excess removal from marine systems is likely to alter food web dynamics. Up to 78% of spiny dogfish have been discarded in some areas, making its removal utterly wasteful. The combined effects of destroying seafloor habitats and seamount ecosystems, non-target fish bycatch and protected corals can also have considerable ecological implications. See hoki, barracouta and red cod for more information. |
| Score: | E |
| Bycatch: | As spiny dogfish is caught in other target fisheries, it is associated with a wide range of non-target catch, including marine mammals and seabirds. See hoki, arrow squid, barracouta and jack mackerel for more information.
Hoki trawl: An estimated 192 fur seals are captured in the hoki fishery (5-year average). Based on the recent catch spread of hoki, the main captures occur in the Cook Strait (54%), off West Coast of the South Island (24%), off east coast of the South Island and Chatham Rise (15%). The hoki fishery catches about half of the estimated fur seals caught by trawling. The sub-Antarctic and Snares Shelf hoki fishery has a low capture rate for nationally critical New Zealand sea lions of about one a year. The trawl fishery also captures about 1420 seabirds a year (5-year average): main species are Salvin’s albatross, southern Buller’s albatross, white-capped albatross, sooty shearwater, white-chinned petrel, and cape petrels. Protected coral species are also reported caught in hoki tows in most quota areas. The corals caught include gorgonian, hydrocorals, black corals (Antipatharia) and stony corals (Scleractinia) – which includes reef-like, tree-like, and solitary small corals.Other bycatch species include vulnerable deepwater sharks (e.g. shovelnose dogfish, seal shark and Baxter’s dogfish). These low productivity species also include threatened basking sharks (observed at one per year, but could be higher), deepsea skates and some other elasmobranchs. |
| Score: | B |
| Management component: | Single species. The stock structure is uncertain. |
| Score: | D |
| Quota Management Species: | Yes from 2004. |
| Catch limits: | Yes |
| Management plan: | Deepwater management plan for 2010-15 is out of date, and has yet to be reviewed and replaced. Spiny dogfish is an associated species with hoki target species in the current plan. There is no operational plan and the old Deepwater plan lacks key environmental standards. The National Plans of Action on Seabirds and Sharks are more relevant to bycatch issues but they are slow to be implemented. |
| Stock assessment: | No quantitative stock assessment and limited research. |
| Research: | There has been little directed research on spiny dogfish in the last 5 years. |
| Observer coverage: | Observer coverage is 27.3% in the hoki fishery, 52R in the arrow squid fishery, and 8% in middle depth fisheries. The middle depth coverage is unlikely to be spatially or temporally representative of the fishing effort. |
Fisheries map
Taken from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Plenary report for fisheries management.
References
Paste here.