Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large,
highly migratory
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...
predatory fish
Predatory fish are hypercarnivorous fish that actively prey upon other fish or aquatic animals, with examples including shark, billfish, barracuda, pike/muskellunge, walleye, perch and salmon. Some omnivorous fish, such as the red-bellied piranha ...
characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the
billfish
The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophor ...
category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood. These fish are found widely in tropical and temperate parts of the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
,
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, and
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
s, and can typically be found from near the surface to a depth of , and exceptionally up to depths of 2,234 m.
[ They commonly reach in length, and the maximum reported is in length and in weight.][Gardieff, S. ]
Swordfish.
' Florida Museum of Natural History. Accessed 26 December 2011
They are the sole member of their family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
, Xiphiidae.
Taxonomy and etymology
The swordfish is named after its long pointed, flat bill, which resembles a sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
. The species name, ''Xiphias gladius'', derives from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(''xiphias'', "swordfish"), itself from (''xiphos'', "sword") and from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
("sword").[ This makes it superficially similar to other ]billfish
The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophor ...
such as marlin
Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...
, but upon examination, their physiology is quite different and they are members of different families.
Several extinct genera are known, such as a large sized ''Xiphiorhynchus
''Xiphiorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric swordfish that lived from the Eocene until the Miocene. Unlike the modern swordfish, both the upper and lower jaws of ''Xiphiorhynchus'' were extended into blade-like points.
Distribution
...
'' and ''Aglyptorhynchus
''Aglyptorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish.
See also
* Prehistoric fish
* List of prehistoric bony fish
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizat ...
''. Unlike modern taxa these have equally long lower jaws.
Description
They commonly reach in length, and the maximum reported is in length and in weight.[ The ]International Game Fish Association
The International Game Fish Association (''IGFA'') is the leading authority on angling pursuits and the keeper of the most current World Record fishing catches by fish categories. Fishermen who are sport fishers are careful to follow their string ...
's all-tackle angling record for a swordfish was a specimen taken off Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
in 1953.[ Females are larger than males, and Pacific swordfish reach a greater size than northwest Atlantic and ]Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
swordfish.[ They reach maturity at 4–5 years of age and the maximum age is believed to be at least 9 years.][ The oldest swordfish found in a recent study were a 16-year-old female and 12-year-old male. Swordfish ages are derived, with difficulty, from annual rings on fin rays rather than ]otolith
An otolith ( grc-gre, ὠτο-, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called statoconium or otoconium or statolith, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The sa ...
s, since their otoliths are small in size.
Swordfish are ectotherm
An ectotherm (from the Greek () "outside" and () "heat") is an organism in which internal physiological sources of heat are of relatively small or of quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature.Davenport, John. Animal Life a ...
ic animals; however, along with some species of shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s, they have special organs next to their eyes to heat their eyes and brains. Temperatures of above the surrounding water temperature have been measured. The heating of the eyes greatly improves their vision
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
, and consequently improves their ability to catch prey.[Fritsches, K.A., Brill, R.W., and Warrant, E.J. 2005. ]
Warm Eyes Provide Superior Vision in Swordfishes.
' Current Biology 15: 55–58[Hopkin, M. (2005). ]
' Nature, 10 January 2005 Of the 25 000+ fish species, only 22 are known to have a mechanism to conserve heat. These include the swordfish, marlin
Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...
, tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
, and some sharks.[
]
Behavior and ecology
Movements and feeding
The popular belief of the "sword" being used as a spear is misleading. Their nose is more likely used to slash at its prey to injure the prey animal, to make for an easier catch.[ The use as an offensive spear in case of dangers against large sharks or animals is under review.
Mainly, the swordfish relies on its great speed and agility in the water to catch its prey. It is no doubt among the fastest fish, but the basis for the frequently quoted speed of is unreliable.][ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research. ]
Haulin' Bass.
' Quote: ''"The 60 mph figure listed for the swordfish is based on a corrupted version of calculations made by Sir James Gray to estimate the impact speed necessary for a hypothetical 600-lb swordfish to embed its sword 3 feet in the timbers of ships, as has been known to occur; the figure seems to have entered the literature without question."'' Accessed 26 December 2011. Research on related marlin (''Istiophorus platypterus
The Indo-Pacific sailfish (''Istiophorus platypterus'') is a sailfish native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is naturalized in the Atlantic where it has entered the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian migrant. It is dark b ...
'') suggest a maximum value of is more likely.
Swordfish are not schooling
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
fish. They swim alone or in very loose aggregations, separated by as much as from a neighboring swordfish. They are frequently found basking at the surface, airing their first dorsal fin. Boaters report this to be a beautiful sight, as is the powerful jumping for which the species is known. This jumping, also called breaching, may be an effort to dislodge pests, such as remora
The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-li ...
s or lampreys
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
.
Swordfish prefer water temperatures between ,[ but have the widest tolerance among ]billfish
The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophor ...
, and can be found from .[ This highly migratory species typically moves towards colder regions to feed during the summer.][ Swordfish feed daily, most often at night, when they rise to surface and near-surface waters in search of smaller fish. During the day, they commonly occur to depths of and have exceptionally been recorded as deep as .][ Adults feed on a wide range of ]pelagic fish
Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral reef ...
, such as mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
...
, barracudina
Barracudinas are any member of the marine mesopelagic fish family (biology), family Paralepididae: 50 or so extant species are found almost worldwide in deep waters. Several genera are known only from fossils dating back to the Ypresian epoch.
...
s, silver hake
The silver hake, Atlantic hake, or New England hake (''Merluccius bilinearis'') is a merluccid hake of the genus '' Merluccius'', found in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. It is highly predatory and typically feeds on fish and crustaceans.
Appearanc ...
, rockfish
Rockfish is a common term for several species of fish, referring to their tendency to hide among rocks.
The name rockfish is used for many kinds of fish used for food. This common name belongs to several groups that are not closely related, and ca ...
, herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
, and lanternfish
Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ ''myktḗr'', "nose" and ''ophis'', "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represente ...
es, but they also take demersal fish
Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They occ ...
, squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
, and crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
s.[ In the northwestern Atlantic, a survey based on the stomach content of 168 individuals found 82% had eaten squid and 53% had eaten fish, including ]gadids
The Gadidae are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods. It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock.
Most gadid species are ...
, scombrid
The mackerel, tuna, and bonito family, Scombridae, includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of 51 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies. All species are in the subfamily Scombrinae, except the butterf ...
s, butterfish, bluefish
The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...
, and sand lance
A sand lance or sandlance is a fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. Several species of sand lances are commonly known as "sand eels", though they are not related to true eels. Another variant name is launce, and all names of the fish are ...
. Large prey are typically slashed with the sword, while small are swallowed whole.[
]
Threats and parasites
Almost 50 species of parasites
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...
have been documented in swordfish. In addition to remoras, lampreys, and cookiecutter shark
The cookiecutter shark (''Isistius brasiliensis''), also called the cigar shark, is a species of small squaliform shark in the family Dalatiidae. This shark occurs in warm, oceanic waters worldwide, particularly near islands, and has been rec ...
s, this includes a wide range of invertebrates, such as tapeworm
Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass is Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Cestodar ...
s, roundworm
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...
s, Myxozoa
Myxozoa (etymology: Greek: μύξα ''myxa'' "slime" or "mucus" + thematic vowel o + ζῷον ''zoon'' "animal") is a subphylum of aquatic cnidarian animals – all obligate parasites. It contains the smallest animals ever known to have lived. O ...
ns and copepod
Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...
s.[ A comparison of the parasites of swordfish in the ]Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and in the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
indicated that some parasites, particularly Anisakis
''Anisakis'' (a·nuh·saa·keez)
is a genus of parasitic nematodes that have life cycles involving fish and marine mammals. They are infective to humans and cause anisakiasis. People who produce immunoglobulin E in response to this parasite ...
spp. larvae identified by genetic markers, could be used as biological tags and support the existence of a Mediterranean swordfish stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
.
Fully adult swordfish have few natural predators. Among marine mammals, killer whale
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pa ...
s sometimes prey on adult swordfish.[ The ]shortfin mako
The shortfin mako shark (; ; ''Isurus oxyrinchus''), also known as the blue pointer or bonito shark, is a large Lamniformes, mackerel shark. It is commonly referred to as the mako shark, as is the longfin mako shark (''Isurus paucus''). The shor ...
, an exceptionally fast species of shark, sometimes take on swordfish; dead or dying shortfin makos have been found with broken-off swords in their heads, revealing the danger of this type of prey.[The Shark Trust. ] Juvenile swordfish are far more vulnerable to predation, and are eaten by a wide range of predatory fish. Intensive fishery may be driving swordfishes and sharks into harder competition for reduced amounts of prey and therefore pitting them to fight more.
Human fishery is a major predator of swordfishes. The annual reported catch in 2019 of the North Atlantic swordfish amounted to a total of .
Breeding
In the North Pacific, batch spawning mainly occurs in water warmer than during the spring and summer, and year-round in the equatorial Pacific.[ In the North Atlantic, spawning is known from the ]Sargasso Sea
The Sargasso Sea () is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it has no land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its charac ...
, and in water warmer than and less than deep.[ Spawning occurs from November to February in the South Atlantic off southern ]Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.[ Spawning is year-round in the ]Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
and other warm regions of the west Atlantic.[
Large females can carry more eggs than small females, and between 1 million to 29 million eggs have been recorded.][ The pelagic eggs measure in diameter and days after fertilization, the embryonic development occurs.][ The surface-living and unique-looking larvae are long at hatching.][ The bill is evident when the larvae reach in length.][
]
Fisheries
Swordfish were harvested by a variety of methods at small scale (notably harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, seal hunting, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the t ...
fishing) until the global expansion of long-line fishing
Longline fishing, or longlining, is a commercial fishing angling technique that uses a long ''main line'' with baited hooks attached at intervals via short branch lines called ''snoods'' or ''gangions''.[Strait of Messina
The Strait of Messina ( it, Stretto di Messina, Sicilian: Strittu di Missina) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily (Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria ( Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Se ...]
, where they are still fished with traditional wooden boats called felucca
A felucca ( ar, فلوكة, falawaka, possibly originally from Greek , ) is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean—including around Malta and Tunisia—in Egypt and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in protect ...
s and are part of the cuisine in that area.
Swordfish are vigorous, powerful fighters. Although no unprovoked attacks on humans have been reported, swordfish can be very dangerous when harpooned. They have run their swords through the planking of small boats when hurt. In 2015, a Hawaiian fisherman was killed by a swordfish after attempting to spear the animal.
Recreational fishing
Recreational fishing has developed a subspecialty called swordfishing. Because of a ban on long-lining along many parts of seashore, swordfish populations are showing signs of recovery from the overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
caused by long-lining along the coast.
Various ways are used to fish for swordfish, but the most common method is deep-drop fishing, since swordfish spend most daylight hours very deep, in the deep scattering layer
The deep scattering layer, sometimes referred to as the sound scattering layer, is a layer in the ocean consisting of a variety of marine animals. It was discovered through the use of sonar, as ships found a layer that scattered the sound and w ...
. The boat is allowed to drift to present a more natural bait. Swordfishing requires strong fishing rods and reels, as swordfish can become quite large, and it is not uncommon to use or more of weight to get the baits deep enough during the day, up to is common. Night fishing baits are usually fished much shallower, often less than . Standard baits are whole mackerel, herring, mullet, bonito, or squid; one can also use live bait. Imitation squids and other imitation fish lures can also be used, and specialized lures made specifically for swordfishing often have battery-powered or glow lights. Even baits are typically presented using glow sticks or specialized deepwater-proof battery operated lights.
As food
File:Unfinished cutting of swordfish, Cefalù, Sicily.jpg, Swordfish in seafood shop
File:Marinated grill swordfish.jpeg, Marinated
Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavor b ...
swordfish
File:Fried Swordfish collar.jpg, Fried swordfish collars
File:Swordfish in Limnionas, Kos, Greece (5653643083).jpg, Swordfish dish in Kos
Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...
Swordfish are classified as oily fish
Oily fish are fish species with oil (fats) in soft tissues and in the coelomic cavity around the gut. Their fillets may contain up to 30% oil, although this figure varies both within and between species. Examples of oily fish include small ...
. Many sources, including the United States Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...
, warn about potential toxicity from high levels of methylmercury
Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is a ...
in swordfish.[
][
] The FDA recommends that young children, pregnant women, and women of child-bearing age not eat swordfish.
The flesh of some swordfish can acquire an orange tint, reportedly from their diet of shrimp or other prey. Such fish are sold as "pumpkin swordfish", and command a premium over their whitish counterparts.
Swordfish is a particularly popular fish for cooking. Since swordfish are large, meat is usually sold as steaks, which are often grilled
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...
. Swordfish meat is relatively firm, and can be cooked in ways more fragile types of fish cannot (such as over a grill on skewers). The color of the flesh varies by diet, with fish caught on the East Coast of North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
often being rosier.
Conservation status
In 1998, the US Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States-based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bo ...
and SeaWeb
SeaWeb is a nonprofit ocean conservation organization. Their mission is to raise public awareness, to advance science-based solutions and mobilize decision-makers around ocean conservation.[Fenton Communications Fenton Communications is a public relations firm that was founded by David Fenton in 1982. They describe themselves as the "largest public interest communications firm in the country", and maintain offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Franci ...]
to conduct an advertising campaign to promote their assertion that the swordfish population was in danger due to its popularity as a restaurant entree.
The resulting "Give Swordfish a Break" promotion was wildly successful, with 750 prominent US chefs agreeing to remove North Atlantic swordfish from their menus, and also persuaded many supermarkets and consumers across the country.
The advertising campaign was repeated by the national media in hundreds of print and broadcast stories, as well as extensive regional coverage. It earned the Silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America, as well as'' Time'' magazine's award for the top five environmental stories of 1998.
Subsequently, the US National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the stew ...
proposed a swordfish protection plan that incorporated the campaign's policy suggestions. Then-US President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
called for a ban on the sale and import of swordfish and in a landmark decision by the federal government, of the Atlantic Ocean were placed off-limits to fishing as recommended by the sponsors.
In the North Atlantic, the swordfish stock is fully rebuilt, with biomass estimates currently 5% above the target level. No robust stock assessments for swordfish in the northwestern Pacific or South Atlantic have been made, and data concerning stock status in these regions are lacking. These stocks are considered unknown and a moderate conservation concern. The southwestern Pacific stock is a moderate concern due to model uncertainty, increasing catches, and declining catch per unit effort In fisheries and conservation biology, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) is an indirect measure of the abundance of a target species. Changes in the catch per unit effort are inferred to signify changes to the target species' true abundance. A decr ...
. Overfishing is likely occurring in the Indian Ocean, and fishing mortality exceeds the maximum recommended level in the Mediterranean, thus these stocks are considered of high conservation concern.
In 2010, Greenpeace International
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
added the swordfish to its seafood red list.
Extinct
*'' Xiphiorhynchoides''
In culture
*The swordfish (''Xiphias'') has been used by astronomers as another name for the constellation of Dorado
Dorado () is a constellation in the southern sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' in Spanish, altho ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Swordfish, Seafood Watch, Monterey Bay Aquarium
{{Authority control
Cosmopolitan fish
Oily fish
Sport fish
Hawaiian cuisine
Greek cuisine
Fish described in 1758
Extant Pliocene first appearances
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus