The Dogfish Dilemma.

The Dogfish Dilemma.

-Dogfish is a very common name that gets thrown around in the UK by fishermen and divers alike, the word (Dogfish) first made its appearance around the 1500s when sailors reported witnessing large groups of sharks hunting in packs.

We have a few species of sharks in the UK that are usually all thought of as dog fish, but each one deserves respect in their own right.

The three main spices include (small spotted cat shark),(nurse hound) and (smooth hound).

But it’s the small spotted cat shark that is the most misunderstood. These are gentle creatures that patrol the edges of the kelp forests looking for their next meal, a usual menu of crustaceans, molluscs, and small fish is what these sharks prefer but they are opportunistic hunters and will happily take an easy meal such as any dead sea creatures laying on the bottom declaring themselves natures clean up crew.

(Small spotted cat shark patrolling the kelp forest)

Just like any ecosystem with sharks, if their numbers continue to decline we will soon see the effects trickle down and cause potentially irreversible damage to the rocky reef ecosystems of the UK

Trawling is one of the biggest threats this bottom feeding species faces, even though they aren’t targeted by the trawlers they are often caught as bycatch, killed and then discarded

Accompany this with rising water temperatures, forcing the sharks out of their homes and having detrimental effects on the egg development in the shallow nurseries.

The species is in decline and if mindsets don’t change the future is not looking good for the small spotted cat shark.