Some call them spiny dogfish, fishermen call them 'plague,' and they're headed for southern New Jersey

Commercial fisherman Marty Buzas calls them the perfect predator. They may be small for a shark, the largest ones coming in at about 15 pounds, but they're brazen enough to steal fish right out of his nets.

"They're an eating machine. You name it and they eat it. The only real predator of a spiny dogfish is an octopus, and the ocean isn't exactly teeming with octopus," said Buzas.

That's one reason Buzas has chosen his side on a debate raging about the spiny dogfish shark. When he dresses them out, he finds their stomachs full of fish that are more valuable, including mackerel, squid, butterfish and weakfish.

Fishermen in New England have been complaining about a rise in populations of spiny dogfish this summer, putting a dent in the stocks of fish that are more marketable, such as cod. Some have pulled up lines of hooks and found a spiny dogfish on almost every one. Or, they find a half-eaten fish on the hook decimated by a spiny dogfish.

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