UTILIZATION OF THE DOGFISH 



By G. W. Field 



In the first place I ought to say that the species about 

 which I speak is not the dogfish of the middle west, but a 

 species of shark common in various salt waters all over the 

 world and of very general interest on that account. As you 

 know, it is also one of the most abundant of the sharks, just 

 how abundant is not really known ; but four or five years 

 ago we attempted to estimate the number by means of state- 

 ments from upwards of 500 captains sailing out of Boston 

 and Gloucester. We asked them to make a careful estimate 

 of the number of dogfish they caught during the season, and 

 they reported 27,000,000, actually caught on their lines, 

 trawls and nets — 27,000,000 dogfish averaging about 7 

 pounds apiece. In other words, they caught more dogfish 

 than cod, haddock or other fish. They bring into Boston 

 and Gloucester about 200,000,000 pounds of fish annually; 

 and the catch of dogfish alone is practically equal to their 

 entire catch of halibut, cod, haddock and other species com- 

 bined. 



At the same time we attempted to find out approximately 

 how much damage was actually done by dogfish to the 

 nets and trawls of the fishermen. Upon investigation we 

 learned this to be in round numbers about 160,000 pieces of 

 line, etc., with bait attached. As you know, bait in the 

 salt-water fisheries is a very important item, costing 50 

 cents a barrel and upwards, and fishermen are willing to pay 

 almost any price for the right kind. 



But more than that, when the fishermen lifted their 

 trawls, which are often a mile or more in length and have 

 say 2,000 hooks each hanging by a short line eve,ry 6 feet, 

 they sometimes found over 1,500 dogfish. On the rest of 

 the 2,000 hooks they found not dogfish, but the heads of 

 codfish and haddock which had been entirely eaten by the 

 dogfish. 



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