Spurdog

In the Northwest Atlantic, spurdog is not overfished, or subject to overfishing.In the early 1990's, population biomass of spurdog in the Northwest Atlantic was at its highest estimated level. A large scale unregulated fishery developed and quickly depleted the stock of mature female spurdog. The implementation of a spurdog fishery management plan (FMP) in 2000 halted the further depletion of mature female spurdog and allowed the stock to recover to a sustainable level.In the Northwest Atlantic, the latest available stock assessment (2022) showed that the spawning output was estimated to be 190.8 million pups which is 101% of it's target (SSB MSY proxy = 188 million pups). Therefore, it is sustainably fished.There was a reduction in catches in 2022. Fishing mortality was estimated to be 0.02 which is 81% of the overfishing threshold (FMSY proxy = 0.0246). Therefore, it is harvested sustainably.

The spurdog fishery is well managed, fishers must have a permit to harvest spurdog and annual catch limits and a commercial quota are set. If the quota is fully harvested, then the fishery will be closed and, if the annual catch limit is exceeded, the exact amount will be deducted from the subsequent fishing year.The Northwest Atlantic spurdog fishery is managed by NOAA Fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The fishery is managed using a coast-wide annual quota and possession limits. While there are no specific management areas for the fishery, vessels fishing for spurdog in federal waters must also comply with closed areas for Northeast multispecies (groundfish) and other fisheries. There are several exempted fishing areas defined for the spurdog fishery.Fishers must have a permit to harvest spurdog and annual catch limits and a commercial quota are set. From May 2022, the annual catch limit for spurdog has been set at 14,454 tonnes and the commercial quota has been set at 13,408 tonnes. If the quota is fully harvested, then the commercial spurdog fishery will be closed, and, if the annual catch limit is exceeded, the exact amount by which it was exceeded will be deducted as soon as possible from the subsequent fishing year.Trip limits are also used to control the catch rate. The federal commercial trip limit for spurdog is 7500lb and only one trip may be made each calendar day. Some states mirror the federal trip limit, but states can set their own trip limits. There are no fish size limits.Under the multispecies (groundfish) regulations, there are four regulated mesh areas (RMA) that control the gear that can be used in each area: Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Southern New England, and Mid-Atlantic. Within these RMAs, vessels fishing with gillnets and trawl gear must abide by minimum mesh sizes. This consists of a 6.5-inch minimum mesh size for square or diamond mesh for both trawl and gillnet gear in all RMAs. In the gillnet fishery, nets may not be longer than 91.4m in length.

Gillnet fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic are very likely to be preventing the recovery of the Atlantic right whale, and have bycatch of the endangered Atlantic sturgeon.Spurdog (commonly known as spiny dogfish in US fisheries) are found all along the Northwest coast from Labrador to Florida and are most abundant between Nova Scotia and Cape Hatteras. The main commercial fishing gears used to catch spurdog are sink gillnets (70% of landings), bottom longlines, and trawls. Spurdog are frequently caught as bycatch and discarded during groundfish operations.Spurdog is part of multi-species fisheries, under which it is not possible to determine and identify the vessels/trips/hauls targeting and landing spiny dogfish until the gear has been hauled. There are several measures and efforts in place that are intended to reduce bycatch and these include the Standardised Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) reports and the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) considerations.Gillnetting is considered to have little impact on the seabed, although ghost fishing from gillnets is occasionally reported. Species can be taken as bycatch is all gear types. These include small quantities species of crab, skate and shark, some of which are considered to be data deficient. Atlantic right whale entanglement occurrences are rarely observed during fishing operations. Consequently, there are difficulties in attributing mortalities to specific fisheries. Recorded entanglement incidents are considered a minimum, since not all entangled whales are discovered or reported. Entangled animals are usually not found in the same location where it was initially entangled, making it at times impossible to identify the gear type and area where the entanglement occurred. In the majority of the cases, no gear was documented or recovered, or the whale was carrying sections (line or rope) of unknown/undetermined gear type.Though the majority of mortalities for right whales have no identified gear type, there is evidence that right whales are susceptible to entanglement in gear employed by gillnet fisheries. The National Marine Fisheries Service has determined that the annual mortality and serious injury of Atlantic right whales in the gillnet fishery is equal to or greater than the 'potential biological removal' (PBR) of the stock and therefore, this fishery is listed in the US as a Category I fishery. While across all gillnet fisheries in this area, the compliance rate is thought to be greater than 80% of boats complying with measures to reduce the take of right whales, gillnet fisheries are still very likely to be preventing the recovery of Atlantic right whales.In addition, the status of endangered Atlantic sturgeon is not well understood, and sink gillnets used to fish for spurdog and monkfish are expected to have some of the highest fishery-related impacts. There is currently a review underway of methods to reduce Atlantic sturgeon bycatch in this fishery.

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