Most reliable studies reveal that the average swordfish landed today isn’t mature enough to even spawn yet. This is a sure sign that the population is in trouble. Although catches of swordfish have dropped sixty percent since 1994, commercial fisherman continue to harvest swordfish either targeted or as by-catch via miles and miles of unattended, baited hooks connected by a common line that’s hauled in periodically by a vessel - a process known as long lining.For years saltwater anglers have been calling for government action to stop the damaging by-kill and over fishing impacts of commercial longlines. Billfish are protected by federal law against commercial fisherman; however, commercial longlines cause the overwhelming majority of fishing mortalities for billfish in United States waters: 98% of sailfish, 95% of Atlantic white marlin and 85% of Atlantic blue marlin. Now day’s tournaments in which billfish are killed are looked down upon, but the real problem isn’t the sport fisherman. They are most definitely not the people responsible for depleted stocks of all billfish. And most significantly, swordfish. In 1960, most swordfish caught in the North Atlantic weighed over 250 pounds. Today, three decades after the emergence of an indiscriminate fishing method called long lining, the average North Atlantic swordfish caught weighs just 90 pounds. And with over half the North Atlantic swordfish caught too young to breed, the population is seriously in Stanfield 2trouble. In 1999 the National Resources Defense Council, (NRDC), and several other groups filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for its failure to take action to protect juvenile swordfish. Under an agreement reached with NMFS, the agency agreed to issue a proposed rule in December 1999. The rule would close almost 200,000 square miles in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to long line fishing in order to protect baby swor...
