What Do We Know about the Migratory Pathways of Spiny Dogfish in the NW Atlantic

Fourteen years of external tagging, combined with several years of acoustic tracking, have provided a detailed accounting of the migration patterns of the spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias along the North American Eastern Seaboard. Onshore-offshore migration in New England and Canada take place over a period of months but in North Carolina the activity is within hours, perhaps in direct response to quickly changing and prevailing coastal ocean currents. The overwintering ground is at the southern range of commercial harvest; northward migration to Cape Cod and New England waters occurs in the spring. Not all fish migrate, as evidenced by tag recaptures by commercial and sport fishers. Apparently spiny dogfish can travel long distances within short periods but often fish are recaptured near the location of release 3-5 years later. Currently efforts are to identify critical habitats for spawning and nursery grounds of this species.