The international trade and fishery management of spiny dogfish: A social network approach

Abstract

The management of the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is a matter of international concern, as this species was a candidate for inclusion in lists for trade regulation. The major demand for its meat is from the European Union (EU) market, with the US and Canada as its two major contributors. The US has yet to support a spiny dogfish listing, although the US Atlantic stock is under a fishery management plan (FMP) that proved to be successful in providing a certified sustainable fishery. We employed a cumulative sum technique to compare trade data for frozen spiny dogfish export from US and Canada to the EU in relation to the FMP adoption. We also constructed a social network to visualize changes in the European trade scenario for spiny dogfish after adoption of the FMP and to predict future trade flow potentially affecting the conservation status of regional dogfish stocks in relation to recent management measures introduced in Europe. The social network analysis revealed that the exclusion of spiny dogfish from trade regulation lists eventually will affect the conservation status of dogfish stocks in Africa, Asia, South America, and the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Our results suggest that the species listing would provide an economic benefit for the US Northwest Atlantic fishery, and will eventually foster the conservation status of other regional stocks worldwide and the search for a more sustainable global exploitation of spiny dogfish.