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I. DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY 

 I. A. History of the Fishery 



Swordfish ( Xiphias gladius ) is distributed throughout the tropical 

 and temperate waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. It is 

 more abundant in coastal waters but is also found in continous patches in 

 tropical and subtropical open ocean areas, as evidenced by longline catch 

 rate data (Figure 1). In the Pacific, swordfish are taken commercially off 

 the western coasts of the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru; near 

 New Zealand and Australia; off the eastern coasts of Japan and Taiwan; and 

 off the southeast coast of Asia. The limits of commercial distribution are 

 approximately 50°N to 35°S latitude. Swordfish are caught by a variety of 

 gear, including longlines, handlines, harpoons, gill nets, rod-and-reel , 

 and purse seine. However, the majority of swordfish are caught by longline 

 gear designed for capturing tunas. This gear, when properly modified and 

 used specifically for catching swordfish, has the capability of catching 

 large quantities. The longline fleets of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan catch 

 substantial amounts of swordfish in the Pacific (Table 1). U.S. domestic 

 longline vessels take a small amount (c. 4.4 mt/yr) of swordfish near the 

 Hawaiian Islands. Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru are currently 

 developing longline fisheries through joint ventures with western Pacific 

 countries. 



The next most common methods for capturing swordfish include 

 harpoon and drift and set gill nets. The Japanese are increasingly using 

 drift gill nets to catch tunas and swordfish; more than 10% of the Japanese 

 swordfish catch is currently made using this method (Figure 2) and this 

 percentage is increasing. 



The Japanese harpoon and drift gill net fishery lands about 3,000 

 tons of bill fish (striped marl in/swordfish) from coastal waters about 

 Sanriku (northeastern Honshu), around Izu Island, and in the east China 

 Sea. Taiwan also has a harpoon fishery for swordfish, and Mexico is 

 developing a drift gill net fishery. 



In the waters off the west coast of the United States, there exists 

 a commercial harpoon and drift gill net fishery. The use of drift gill 

 nets for the capture of swordfish and oceanic sharks is a rapidly growing 

 fishery off California: it is estimated that 37% of the swordfish landed 

 in California in 1979 were caught with drift gill nets. A minor rod-and- 

 reel fishery for swordfish also exists here. Southern California has the 

 largest domestic catch of swordfish of any U.S. area in the Pacific; 

 California catches normally range between 2-3% of the total Pacific Ocean 

 catch, but in 1978 it equalled 12% of the total Pacific catch. 



Rod-and-reel sport fishing for swordfish in the Pacific is on the 

 increase. Participating countries include the United States (near 



