Swordfish Stage a Strong Recovery

SILVER SPRING, Maryland, October 7, 2002 (ENS) - Depleted populations of North Atlantic swordfish have responded to strict catch quotas with a swift recovery, acccording to an assessment by the international agency responsible for their conservation.

Four years into a 10 year recovery program, a preliminary assessment conducted last month in Madrid, Spain, for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) found the swordfish have increased from a level of 65 percent of its healthy stock size to 94 percent.

Diver films a swordfish in its natural habitat. (Photo courtesy Pace Technologies)

Swordfish are migratory fish that swim long distances and are fished by many nations. The U.S. ICCAT delegation, including the commercial and recreational industries and environmental groups, united in a strong push to lead rebuilding efforts through the commission.

When the billed fish recover to 100 percent of what ICCAT considers a healthy stock size, American fishing vessels will be able to make money in the lucrative swordfishery once again, Hogath said.

“Commercial and recreational fishermen in the United States supported the strong management actions ICCAT implemented four years ago, and once the stock is fully rebuilt to the ICCAT goal, we will push for a quota that rewards them for their sacrifices,” he said.

"The recovery of North Atlantic swordfish population clearly shows that good science can go hand-in-hand with good fisheries management," said Dr. Ellen Pikitch, director of marine programs at the Bronx Zoo's Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). "This is an incredible victory for conservationists, commercial fishermen, consumers, and, of course, swordfish."

WCS began working to protect swordfish in 1999, when it proposed a new method for evaluating swordfish populations to ICAAT.

When Dr. Pikitch and WCS colleague Dr. Beth Babcock attended an ICCAT swordfish assessment meeting in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, they found that North Atlantic swordfish were being depleted by overfishing. They recommended that catches needed to be reduced to a 10,000 metric ton quota to give the population a chance to recover within 10 years.

Recreational fisherman catches a swordfish (Photo courtesy Thunderjet Boats)

At last month's ICCAT meeting in Madrid, Dr. Babcock and other scientists evaluated the stocks again and found that they were rebuilding much more rapidly than expected.

"If recent catch levels continue, there is more than an 80 percent chance that the population will recover by 2009 or even sooner," said Dr. Babcock.

In the 1970s, swordfish were a popular target of recreational fishermen in the United States, and the North Atlantic stock rapidly became overfished. Recent years have seen a resurgence in this interest, with a boom in recreational swordfish tournaments in Florida.

The 2001 international landings of North Atlantic swordfish totaled 9,800 metric tons, a decrease in landings of 52 percent from the 1987 peak of 20,236 metric tons.

Many conservation organizations worked to save North American swordfish including the Ocean Wildlife Campaign, which consists of WCS, the National Audubon Society, the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, the Ocean Conservancy, WWF, and Oceana.

The Give Swordfish a Break Campaign, a consumer awareness project of SeaWeb and the Natural Resources Defense Council, had an impact on the eating habits of restaurant diners.

In January 1998 the Give Swordfish a Break Campaign was launched in New York as 27 East coast chefs announced the removal of north Atlantic swordfish from their menus until a recovery plan is in place. Eleven months later, more than 500 chefs nationwide had taken swordfish off their menus.

In August 2000, NOAA Fisheries decided to protect juvenile swordfish by safeguarding key nursery areas within U.S. waters. In response to that move, the Give Swordfish a Break campaign formally ended with declaration of victory.

Fresh swordfish about to become dinner at Le Place Rocher, France (Photo courtesy Le Place Rocher)

On October 14, NOAA Fisheries will host a meeting of the ICCAT Advisory Committee to review the preliminary stock assessment findings. The committee will develop recommendations for ICCAT on whether current international fishing quotas should change.

Proposed regulations include a recreational permit requirement to harvest swordfish, a dockside call-in reporting requirement for recreational harvests, and a recreational retention limit, also called a bag limit.

Swordfish grow rapidly, and females start reproducing by age five. They spawn in warm, tropical and subtropical waters throughout the year.

Found in the colder northern waters during the summer months, and all year in subtropical and tropical areas, they are caught on deep ocean longlines at night.

"While the recovery of North Atlantic swordfish populations is a great victory, the battle is far from over," said Dr. Pikitch. "We need to continue to protect juvenile swordfish, and minimize bycatch of severely depleted species such as white and blue marlin, which are still accidentally taken by swordfish boats."

WCS warned that the status of swordfish populations in the South Atlantic and Pacific are unknown and probably overfished.

The next swordfish assessment will occur in 2004.