Dogfish are abundant off Maine but processing infrastructure is gone, markets hard to find
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Press-Herald] By Patrick Whittle - September 29, 2014 -
The stability of the dogfish population off the coast of New England is not in jeopardy and Federal regulators say the fishes are actually growing in abundance, but fishermen have had little success finding a market for them.
Efforts to market dogfish are hindered by a lack of dogfish processors in Maine, said Portland Fish Exchange GM Bert Jongerden, who added there were a half dozen such processors in Portland in the 1990s before strict quotas were imposed.
“The guys can’t justify fishing them and handling them and icing them for the price levels,” Jongerden added.
Maine fishermen caught a little more than 100,000 pounds of dogfish in 2013 at a total value of $17,945 – barely a tenth the price per pound of haddock, and less than 7 percent of the price per pound of cod. The total value of the cod catch was $736,154, while for haddock it was $211,279.
To Read Full Story Login Below.