Capt. Gary Cannell has been running Tuna Hunter Charters out of Cape Ann Marina for the last 13 years.

This year, the captain feels fishing isn’t as good as past years — and he’s blaming what veteran mariners refer to as the “rats of the sea.”

Dogfish, the little sharks that surround a boat and go into a feeding frenzy when bait is cast into the water, similar to piranhas, are making it essentially impossible to catch bluefish, striped bass, cod or tuna — popular fish caught on Cape Ann charters, Cannell said.

“The biggest nightmare with fishing right now is dogfish,” Cannell said. “They were bad last year, but they’re even worse now. It’s hard to catch a fish out there because there’s so many dogfish. They’ve taken over the waters.”

A dogfish is a shark, usually about 3 feet long, that has two big horns on its back and very sharp teeth.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) placed a quota on fishing the small shark, because it was overfished.

“There’s been a history of overfishing that occurred,” said Teri Frady,spokeswoman for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service in the Northeast. “There was a directed fishery during the late 1980s and early 1990s that removed a large number of mature females from the population.”

Frady said the female dogfish takes a long time to mature and become fertile, usually about 10 years. Before the directed fishery, the ratio of mature male-to-female dogfish was 2-to-1. Now, the ratio of mature male-to-female dogfish is 4-to-1. This is why the dogfish are under a rebuilding plan.

Frady also said the dogfish feed on fish 50 percent of the time, targeting mackerel and herring, but they will feed on whatever they can get.

“They do seem to feed pretty opportunistically,” Frady said.

Cannell has no use for dogfish.

“These things are a plague from Maine all the way past New Jersey,” Cannell said. “Right now we’re trying to protect the cod and haddock, but they’re (dogfish) eating everything.”

High gas prices have also affected Cannell’s business. When gas prices increase, Cannell is forced to raise his charter prices. This could be the reason why new customers are staying away.

“Regular customers are coming back, but there is definitely a decline in new customers because people are cutting back,” said Cannell.

Cannell charges $850 for an eight-hour striped bass charter, $500 for a half-day and goes out about a mile off the Cape Ann coast. It costs customers $1,100 to go tuna fishing for the day on his boat, which travels anywhere from 15 to 40 miles out. Parties range from one to six people.

The captain also said there is a lack of tuna, because all the herring they feed on has been decimated by fishing trawlers.

“The big pair trawlers are wiping out all the food. It’s really bad — disgusting,” Cannell said.

However, some charter boat captains say that the season is going pretty well so far.

Nick Danikas, captain of Coastal Fishing Adventures — run out of Cape Ann Whale Watch’s ticket office — said the “fishing’s been really good” and that his charters have caught at least six fish per charter. The most a single charter has caught this season has been 50. The fish, mostly striped bass, range from 16 to 47 inches.

“There’s a lot of activity — a lot of action on most of the trips,” Danikas said.

Danikas runs the charter business Friday through Sunday, the days when he’s not operating and captaining the Cape Ann Whale Watch.

The captain mostly only runs four-hour charters, but he will do a full-day charter if it’s requested. He charges $300 for a two-person, and $350 for a four-person, four-hour charter. The charters usually only travel a mile out.

Danikas also said he gets satisfaction from watching the people he takes out catch fish and enjoys fishing himself on the charters.

“It’s relaxing,” Danikas said.

Capt. Scott Williams also runs his charter business, Charlie’s Charters, out of Cape Ann Whale Watch’s ticket office. Williams said the season started out slow, but the weather has been nice lately and business is “pretty good.”

“People come from all over,” Williams said. “Business has been OK. When the weather’s good, business is good.”

He believes that business is on par with what it was last season, but he can’t control the fish.

“Every day’s different, you can’t predict the fishing,” Williams said. “What I promise the people is good effort and safety.”

Williams has been taking passengers out on charters for the last 25 years. He takes people out twice a day, seven days a week. His rates range from $250 to $400, with a minimum of one person to a maximum of five.

Williams said the best part of his job is “the office — being outdoors and every day being different.”