New protection for much-dogged shark

Last week, the Commerce Department locked in the first fishing quotas to rebuild northeastern-U.S. populations of the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, shown here in a 1959 photo. Since the 1980s, the number of mature females in this region has fallen by 75 percent. Fleets target female adults because they are the population’s largest members.

They can grow 3 to 5 feet long and weigh up to 10 pounds.