THE SPINY DOGFISH ( Squalus acanthias ) 

 IN THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC 



by 



Dayton L. Alverson and Maurice E. Stansby 



ABSTRACT 



Recent depredations attributed to dogfish have been of serious concern to com- 

 mercial and sport fishermen in the Pacific Northwest. Three possible ways of con- 

 trolling the dogfish, all of them dependent upon a knowledge of dogfish biology, are 

 discussed. Of these, development of a commercial dogfish fishery appears to be the 

 most practical. Development of such a fishery, however, is dependent upon research 

 leading to a high market demand for dogfish products. To assure the success of the 

 fishery, all parts of the dogfish should have uses. Moreover, at least some of the 

 products derived from dogfish should serve unique uses and be obtainable from no 

 other source. Finally, a careful examination of import relationships must be made 

 to assure that a domestic dogfish fishery would be able to compete with foreign 

 fisheries. 



INTRODUCTION 



Recent increases in the size of dogfish 

 populations on the Pacific coast have been 

 of growing concern to commercial and sport 

 fishermen. This report has been compiled to 

 provide technical background material on the 

 dogfish. It consists primarily of a survey of 

 the available knowledge of the abundance and 

 distribution of dogfish in waters of the Pacific 

 Northwest, the effects of dogfish on the fish- 

 eries, and ways to use dogfish in commercial 

 products. The report also discusses the roles 

 of Government and the commercial fishing 

 industry in controlling dogfish populations. 



Note.--Dayton L. Alverson, Base Director, Explora- 

 tory Fishing and Gear Research, and Maurice E. 

 Stansby, Laboratory Director, Technological Labora- 

 tory, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Seattle, Washington. 



BIOLOGY OF DOGFISH 



Classification 



Dogfishes, in common with other sharks, 

 are distinguished from bony fishes by car- 

 tilaginous endoskeletons and internal fertiliza- 

 tion. The dogfishes are placed by taxonomists 

 in Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmo- 

 branchii. Order Selachii, and Suborder 

 Squaloidea. At one time the Pacific dogfish 

 was distinguished from the Atlantic dogfish 

 as a separate species, Squalus suckleyi. Bige- 

 low and Schroeder (1948), however, could 

 find no morphological differences between 

 the two. Following normal systematic proce- 

 dure, they gave precedence to the name under 

 which the species was first described. 

 S. suckleyi is, therefore, considered a junior 

 synonym of S. acanthias. 



