Island Free Press ...Fishing

Trip limit on smooth dogfish is a problem for local fishermen

By SUSAN WEST

Something didn’t sit right with Dewey Hemilright when he heard the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approve a smooth dogfish trip limit at a meeting in Alexandria, Va., last month.

“The 1,000 pound limit was presented as a way to hold the fishery at the status quo with no impact on commercial fishermen,” the Wanchese commercial fisherman said. “But this is going to have a big effect on some fishermen in Hyde and Dare counties and in Virginia too.”

Tilman Gray, owner of Avon Seafood on Hatteras Island, agreed.

“Some of the fishermen here bring in up to 5,000 pounds,” Gray said.

And, Michael Meekins at Engelhard Seafood in Hyde County said a few boats there deliver as many as 12,000 pounds of smooth dogfish from one fishing trip.

“A 1,000 pound limit will end that fishery for the boats that sell smooth dogs to me,” he said.

Meekins said the cost of the fuel needed to steam from Engelhard to fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean would greatly outstrip income under the limit.

“The numbers used by the Atlantic States (commission) were wrong. They made a mistake,” Hemilright said.

To calculate the impact on fishermen, an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) technical committee used landings statistics from all fishing trips with smooth dogfish landings, even as little as one pound, according to Louis Daniel, director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.

“But using the average really isn’t fair to the small number of fishermen who make directed trips on smooth dogs,” he explained.

Daniel, who serves as ASMFC coastal shark board chairman, said he was not aware of the actual impact on North Carolina until after the August meeting.

“The board made a mistake, so I’ve placed the trip limit issue on the agenda for reconsideration at our October meeting,” he said.

One alternative to the 1,000-pound limit could be a cap that held landings to recent levels. Annual landings in North Carolina ranged from 610,247 to 647,578 pounds in the last three years.

“With a cap, North Carolina could set its own trip limit,” Daniel said.

Another alternative could be waiting to decide on a trip limit until after the first stock assessment on the species is done.

Fishermen said the smooth dogfish fishery is unlikely to expand due, in part, to the short fishing season.

“The season runs a few weeks in the spring, and then the water gets too warm,” said Hatteras fisherman Chris Hickman.

Hickman also said the labor-intensive nature of the fishery combined with the difficulty of lining up a crew for a season measured in weeks controls expansion.

“To get the best price, smooth dogs have to be cut and brined on the boat as you pick them (out of the net),” he said.

Unless the ASMFC makes an adjustment at the October meeting, the trip limit rule will go into effect Jan. 1, 2009. The rule is part of the ASMFC Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks that manages 40 species in state waters.