#smoothhound

(starry smooth-hound!)

Today’s smooth dogfish discussion topic is their conservation status! These guys are listed as Near Threatened, so let’s find out why. • Smooth dogfish, like all sharks, are slow to reproduce. Their gestation period is a whopping 10 months, and they produce an average of 10-20 pups per litter, and the newborn sharks are vulnerable to predators. Most sharks are long-lived, take a long time to mature, and have long gestation. All of this makes them vulnerable to overfishing. • Smooth dogfish haven’t been targeted by fisheries much in the past, but in recent years they have been caught in great numbers by gillnet fisheries in Virginia and North Carolina. Shark fishing is often thought as some barbaric thing that happens in far-off places like Asia, but it is very much a problem in the United States as well! This species is also fished in Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, and other places in the Caribbean. • The overall population trend for this species is unknown, increased fishing pressure has caused them to be classified as Near Threatened. Their population, population trend, and estimates of how their population will be impacted by these fisheries are all unknown, and no conservation action is being taken. To help support the research of poorly understood species, please donate to the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #smoothdogfish #smoothhound #smoothhoundshark #duskysmoothhound #dontfearthefin #savesharks #replacefearwithfacts #savethesharks #stopoverfishing #gameoverfishing

First catch of the day, a #smoothhound #shark ! Another intern caught a hammerhead later on! #southafrica #mosselbay