Protection sought for a sea brute (wolffish) - Boston Globe

[Eugene]

Source: The Boston Globe

Protection sought for a sea brute
Others see no threat to mighty wolffish

By Carolyn Y. Johnson
Globe Staff / October 1, 2008

The fiercely ugly Atlantic wolffish, whose powerful
jaw can reputedly break a broom handle, looks more
like an underwater thug than a fish in distress - but
scientists say this "Tasmanian devil with fins" is in
rough shape.

Today, the environmental advocacy group Conservation
Law Foundation will petition federal officials to add the
US population of wolffish, also known as ocean catfish,
to the endangered species list.

Environmentalists see the species as a potential "poster
fish" for marine education. Known to diners for its firm
white flesh and to biologists for its ability to crush
other sea life in its viselike jaws, the wolffish has
declined severely in population since the 1980s,
according to scientific surveys and commercial
fishermen's reported "bycatch" - fish caught in nets
intended for others.

-snip-

Those who support the petition hope that the plight of
the wolffish will draw attention to its neighborhood - the
rocky, boulder-strewn sea floor, which can be disrupted
when fishermen drag a net or trawl across the bottom.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/10/01/protection_sought_for_a_sea_brute