James Sulikowski's research on the Atlantic dogfish fishery cited in Fishermen's Voice

Research by James Sulikowski, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Marine Sciences, was cited in the October 2012 issue of Fishermen's Voice in connection with recent announcement that dogfish (a small coastal shark) had received Marine Stewardship Certification.

That certification means the stock is rebuilt and is being sustainably fished.

The story notes that Sulikowski  has conducted various research projects on the species that suggest that unlike most bony fish that spawn annually dogfish produce eggs and pups continuously, and unlike some other female sharks that breed at the same time of year and all give birth synchronously, dogfish appear to carry pups at various states of development. This means they are giving birth to 8 inch bay sharks  all year that immediately begin eating."

To conduct his research, Sulikowski since 2009 has  been awarded  $564,000 ($337,000 from the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program and $227,000 from the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation) to use satellite tags and tandem trawl surveys to examine the behavior and ecology of spiny dogfish in the Northwest Atlantic. The ultimate goals of this research are to provide new information on habitat, depth and movement patterns that can be used for the effective management of  this species in US waters.

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