Fishermen will tell you that spiny dogfish — a hungry, aggressive species swarming nets and hooks up and down the East Coast — can take care of themselves.
But to their dismay, the plentiful small shark species that’s been called everything from a pest to a plague could soon join animals such as bison and iguanas as protected international endangered species.
The European Union has sponsored the dogfish for a listing with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that could quash the already fragile market for a fish many say is devouring more commercially valuable food fish.
The protections being proposed would require seafood companies to secure federal permits for every shipment of dogfish that leaves the country.