FishWatch

Harvesting Swordfish

U.S. commercial fishermen use longline gear to harvest swordfish in federal waters off Hawaii and on the high seas. Fishermen set their fishing gear at night with luminescent light sticks to attract swordfish, or their prey, as they swim near the surface. Longline gear is brought back onboard the boat the next day with the catch. In the Hawaii-based longline fisheries, swordfish are kept on ice and sold fresh, rather than frozen. Fishermen in Hawaii rarely catch swordfish with handlines or troll gear.

Off the West Coast, U.S. commercial fishermen harvest swordfish using drift gillnets and harpoons. None of these gear types impact ocean habitat.

Longlines and gillnets can incidentally catch sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds, sharks, and other finfish species. Since 2004, longliners in Hawaii have operated under several strict regulations to minimize impacts on other species:

• Every vessel carries a fishery observer and a satellite tracking system to monitor fishing.
• Use of circle hooks and finfish bait, instead of J-hooks and squid bait, to reduce the number of sea turtles caught and cause less injury to sea turtles that are hooked.
• Following sea turtle handling and release protocols that minimize further injury and increase the chance of survival.
• Annual limits on the number of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles that can be caught; if either limit is reached, the fishery is closed for the rest of the year.
• Gear restrictions to minimize seabird interactions and injury to seabirds.

Regulations prohibit fishing with drift gillnets north of Point Conception, California, from August 15 through October 31 to protect leatherback sea turtles. (In the past, most accidental catch of leatherbacks has occurred north of this area in October, so by closing this area seasonally, fishermen avoid interacting with sea turtles.) Regulations also include specific gear requirements for drift gillnets (e.g., pingers that emit sound to deter marine mammals, and net extenders that drop the net below the surface to allow marine mammals to pass without being entangled).

Management

Who’s in charge? West Coast: Pacific Fishery Management Council; Pacific Islands (Hawaii and territories): Western Pacific Fishery Management Council

Because highly migratory species such as swordfish move throughout large areas of the Pacific and are fished by many nations and gear types, management by the United States alone is not enough to ensure that harvests are sustainable in the long term. Effective conservation requires international cooperation. The International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean conducts stock assessments to determine the status of swordfish stocks. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commissions also conduct Pacific swordfish stock assessments and also help further international cooperation for the management of swordfish.

Current regulations: U.S. fishermen harvest swordfish in both federal and international waters. They follow U.S. regulations regardless of where they fish. These regulations are designed to ensure compliance with international management measures.

West Coast: Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species.

• Commercial fishermen must have a permit.
• No longline fishing in federal waters; no shallow-set longline fishing on the high seas (unless the vessel has a Hawaii longline limited entry permit and set certificates).
• Fishermen can use drift gillnets in federal waters but not on the high seas.
• Fishermen follow strict regulations to reduce bycatch of sea turtles and marine mammals (see Harvesting Swordfish).
• Onboard observers monitor catch and bycatch in the gillnet fishery.
• Fishermen must maintain logbooks to document their catch.

West Coast–based drift gillnet and harpoon fishing activity is highly dependent on seasonal oceanographic conditions that create temperature fronts, which concentrate prey for swordfish. Because of the seasonal migratory pattern of swordfish and seasonal fishing restrictions, over 90 percent of the fishing effort occurs from August 15 through January 31.

Pacific Islands: Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region.

• Fishermen must have a permit to harvest swordfish, depending on what gear type they want to use; a limited number of permits are available to restrict the number of fishermen participating in some longline fisheries.
• Longline fishing prohibited areas are zones closed to longlining to protect endangered Hawaiian monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and prevent potential gear conflicts with smaller fishing boats. Vessels must carry vessel monitoring systems to enforce these zones.
• All Hawaii-based longline vessels fishing for swordfish carry onboard observers when requested by NOAA Fisheries, to monitor fishing and record any interactions with sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals.
• Longliners follow strict regulations to reduce bycatch of sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals (see Harvesting Swordfish).

Annual Harvest

The Hawaii-based longline fishery is the largest U.S. producer of swordfish. Hawaii-based longliners account for close to half of U.S. swordfish production and about 15 percent of all Pacific swordfish landings. Hawaii fishermen harvested 3.15 million pounds of swordfish in 2010. Close to 24,500 pounds were landed in American Samoa.

U.S. West Coast fishermen catch about 5.5 percent of the North Pacific–wide swordfish catch. U.S. commercial fishermen harvested around 809,000 pounds of swordfish off the West Coast in 2010.

Economy

Hawaii is the major source for U.S.-caught swordfish in America. Most of the catch is flown to markets on the East Coast. All of Hawaii's swordfish are landed, marketed fresh, and sold at the Honolulu fish auction, where most wholesalers acquire their fish for local, domestic, and export sales. (Hawaii Seafood)

Most of the swordfish landed in California supports the domestic seafood restaurant businesses.

Recreational

Off the U.S. West Coast, recreational fishermen fish for swordfish with rod-and-reel gear. This fishery is managed under the same management plan as the commercial fishery. Fishermen 16 years and older must have a fishing license to catch and land swordfish and are allowed to keep two swordfish per day. Sportfishing vessels must have a permit and keep a monthly log of their fishing activity. There are no federal regulations for recreational fishing off Hawaii and U.S. Pacific Island territories; however, local rules may apply.