Spiny Dogfish (non-target)

Common bait thief in spring and late fall; listed so you can identify it. Not a target. A spine in front of each dorsal fin.

Season in Long Island

NOAA NEFSC: fish that summer north of Cape Cod move south to Long Island in the fall and as far as North Carolina in winter, and migrate north in spring; movements follow water temperature (NOAA Fisheries). OTW: 55 dogfish on a Captree trip in early May 2022 alongside cod. Summer dogfish in Long Island bays are most likely smooth dogfish (see that chart). (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

South Shore surf and nearshore water in spring and late fall as the packs pass.

Anywhere, often in packs.

Handling

• Sharp spine in front of each dorsal fin
• Rough skin

Hold it behind the head clear of both spines, or pin it with a towel; unhook with pliers or cut the line.

Keep or release

Usually released. NOAA calls US wild-caught dogfish a good seafood choice; New York lists it as a shark that may be kept under the shark rules.

Typical: unknown. Large: Males to 3.3 ft, females to 4 ft.

New York (marine waters) limits

• Minimum: Allowed large sharks (tiger, blacktip, bull, lemon, nurse, spinner, blue, porbeagle, common thresher): 54 in fork length. Great, scalloped and smooth hammerhead: 78 in fork length. Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth: no size limit
• Maximum: none
• Bag: One shark per vessel per trip, plus one additional Atlantic sharpnose and one additional bonnethead per angler per trip
• Boat: One shark per vessel per trip
• Season: No closed season listed
• Prohibited (take or possession prohibited): Atlantic angel, basking, bigeye sand tiger, bigeye thresher, bignose, blacknose, Caribbean sharpnose, dusky, Galapagos, longfin mako, narrowtooth, night, oceanic whitetip, reef, sand tiger, sandbar, sharpnose sevengill, shortfin mako, silky, bigeye sixgill, bluntnose sixgill, smalltail, whale, white
• Do not fish for or target prohibited sharks; trying to catch one counts as pursuing it. If caught, a prohibited shark must stay in the water and be released immediately without undue harm. Applies to vessel and shore anglers
• Non-stainless steel, non-offset circle hooks required with baited hooks for sharks (spiny dogfish excluded)
• Shore anglers: no baited hook on a metal leader longer than 18 in total length; baited hooks may be deployed only by casting with rod and reel; no chumming from shore with anything other than mollusks or crustaceans
• Wire or bolt cutters must be immediately available to release sharks that are not being kept
• Sharks may be taken only by rod and reel or handlines retrieved without mechanical means
• A shark that is not being kept may not be removed from the water: its entire length stays in the water with gills submerged
• Landed sharks must have heads, tails and fins naturally attached; no finning; recreational anglers may not sell, trade or barter sharks or shark pieces
• Federal waters (3 to 200 miles) require a NOAA Highly Migratory Species (HMS) permit, which is vessel-based
• Shark minimum size and possession table last changed Aug 27, 2025; shark fishing regulations table last changed April 17, 2024

Last checked 2026-10-17. A summary, not legal advice; the official rules win. New York State DEC fishing regulations.

Sources

• NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE-150: EFH source document, spiny dogfish (1999) (Official source)
• NOAA Fisheries: Atlantic spiny dogfish (Official source)
• On The Water: Long Island Fishing Report, May 5, 2022 (Angler knowledge)
• NYSDEC Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations: size, possession limits and seasons (fish table last changed May 12, 2026; shark table last changed Aug 27, 2025) (Official source)
• NYSDEC Recreational Shark Fishing: permits, prohibited sharks, shore angler rules (last changed April 17, 2024) (Official source)
• NYSDEC Best Practices for Saltwater Fishing: striped bass and shark circle hook requirements (Official source)

All the fish of Long Island