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swordfish permits were issued by California Fish and Game to commercial 

 fishing license holders. The number of boats involved in the California 

 fishery is about 400: data from logbooks indicate about half the commercial 

 permit holders will actually fish. To this must be added the commercial 

 fish processing, wholesale, and retail segment of the fishery. The exact 

 amount of its value in employment and income is unknown. 



There is considerable interest in fishing off southern California for 

 swordfish by rod-and-reel recreational fishery. However, the major effort 

 is targeted on striped marl in with swordfish as an incidental catch. In 

 Hawaii, where the domestic commercial longline industry is small, the catch 

 of swordfish is also incidental to the catch of tunas and other species of 

 bill fish. While some progress in increasing the efficiency of the rod-and- 

 reel angler has taken place, the catch remains very low (average = 29 

 fish/year) . 



The California drift gill net fishery is growing, having increased 

 several-fold in 1980, and the number of units now totals about 100. 

 Although the catch of swordfish amounts to only 4-5% of the total catch (by 

 numbers), its value contributes about 50% of the income to the drift gill 

 net unit (Figure 6). Traditionally the drift gill netter targeted 

 throughout the year on sharks (thresher/mako) and caught some swordfish 

 during the summer and fall season, but the drift gill net units currently 

 entering the fishery (a limited entry fishery by C.F.&G.) are targeting on 

 sharks and swordfish. It is expected that the gill net fishery will grow, 

 due to its ability to catch swordfish and thresher shark, and because of 

 its fuel efficiency. Production from the harpoon fishery has the potential 

 to increase if the current restrictions on use of airplanes for searching 

 are removed. 



In 1976 the Government of Mexico declared a 200-nm economic zone 

 and began enforcement of this zone in early 1977. Within the economic zone 

 is a high catch rate area for swordfish (off the northwest tip of Baja) and 

 the highest catch rate area in the Pacific for striped marl in (about the 

 tip, and southwest of Baja). Historically, U.S. commercial fishermen have 

 sometimes operated off the northwest coast of Baja California, but U.S. 

 fishermen are currently restricted from fishing in Mexican waters. The 

 Mexican Government is encouraging the commercial exploitation of swordfish 

 and striped marl in through joint ventures with the Japanese and by special 

 licenses granted to U.S. vessels capable of using drift gill nets, 

 harpoons, and longline gear. The Japanese joint venture is for the purpose 

 of catching striped marl in for export to Japan; tuna and shark are also 

 landed in Mexico. As of December 1980, nine of these longliners were 

 operating out of Ensenada. The arrangements with U.S. fishermen fishing in 

 Mexican waters have targeted on .catches of swordfish for export to the U.S. 



