People say half-facetiously that we should accept reality and change the name of this sandspit to Cape Dog.
Dogfish abound in local waters, not like cod back when explorers said you could walk on their backs, but dogs have replaced the famous namesake as the go-to fish for a lot of captains.
Dogs are so plentiful that catching them can be boring, repetitive. People don’t get into fishing for boredom, or repetition. They prefer hunt and chase. But dogging is on the water, and a living.
Price being low, it takes thousands of pounds to make a trip worthwhile. That can be done so efficiently that fishermen leaving early might be home for a late lunch, also landing other catch like skates.
The math adds up provided you work hard, keep a crew, maintain the boat, and can handle repetition.
Most of us have heard that dogfish are or were the fish of fish and chips in England, but don’t know why. Here it is:
During World War Two, German U-boats (submarines) terrorized the British coast. Fishermen stayed near to shore to catch what they could. That was dogfish, sent to pubs as the only option, and people developed a taste for it.
Brits fished dogs so hard they became scarce. Last time I was in Northwest Ireland, I sat with fishermen in a pub (where else?) and told them that where I come from, their counterparts land thousands of pounds of dogfish day after day.
Several burly guys literally stumbled off their stools (there was some Guinness involved) to proclaim that if they could do that, they’d own the town.
Too bad that’s not true — there or here.
On our side, low value has to do with marketing and appetites.
The name isn’t the greatest far as consumer attraction; no one likes thinking about eating dogs, though hot dogs surely are popular.
Attempts to change the name go back to 1916 with a push to turn dogs into “grayfish.”
Didn’t work then, wouldn’t now.
Changing a name can change consumer attitudes. A species south of here was known as “toothfish,” and guess what? No one wanted to eat teeth.
Then people convinced the Food and Drug Administration it wouldn’t be false advertising to change the name to “Chilean sea bass.”
Sales rocketed.
There’s also taste. Many find dogfish best disguised in tacos or stews, heavily spiced. But if cod or haddock were left in piles on a hot deck rather than carefully iced, they might not taste so great either.
Tuna come to mind:
Within my lifetime tuna sold for pennies a pound as catfood. Then the Japanese showed up, insisted on great care for each animal. In Tokyo they now fetch many yen a gram, many dollars here.
Dogfish ain’t sushi-grade tuna, but are victims of a Catch 22:
There is no financial incentive to handle them better, and unless they’re handled better the price won’t climb – which would create financial incentive to handle them better.
With all the protections to bring codfish back, maybe this dogfish conversation will become moot.
But with seals and dogs around, there’s too much predator pressure, and competition. Add warming water:
Cod are heading east and north to get to temperatures they prefer, around 59 degrees.
So big picture, the presence of dogs proves two things:
First, the ocean is amazingly fertile. Creation happens.
Second, while nature abhors a vacuum, it could care less about human taste.
Something was sure to replace codfish, and if we enjoyed eating dogs we probably wouldn’t mind.
Maybe when dogfish get scarce they too will become a delicacy — regardless, this will remain Cape Cod.
