-274- 



The California commercial swordfish fishery has socio-economic 

 problems whereby limited techniques of fishing are leading to an 

 inefficient fleet and lower production. The fishery is overcapitalized and 

 the average vessel in the fleet experienced a loss of over $4,000 per year. 

 This fishery could be managed to increase production substantially. For 

 example, use of aircraft can increase the efficiency of the harpoon fleet 

 by 2.6:1. 



IV. STATUS OF CURRENT RESEARCH NEEDS AND EFFORTS 

 IV. A. Major Research Problems 



The major research problems concerning the swordfish in the eastern 

 Pacific Ocean centers on whether the stock is Pacific-wide or composed of 

 the three separate substocks. To better define the stock structure, 

 studies to determine the range and magnitude of migration of swordfish are 

 required. A full range of stock identification techniques should be 

 employed such as genetic studies, time/area catch analysis, and tagging to 

 determine the degree of intermingling. Size and sex data should be 

 collected from all fisheries, and catch-and-effort data from the surface 

 fisheries. Seasonal target areas for the different species also need to be 

 defined relative to production in numbers and the value of the catch in 

 relation to tuna when it is the target species. 



IV. B. Current Research Efforts 



No major research programs on swordfish are known for the 

 northwestern coast of South America, Central America and Mexico, or at 

 other locations in the Pacific. A small amount of stock assessment work is 

 being conducted in Japan (Far Seas Research Laboratory, Shimizu, Japan) 

 relative to stocks of swordfish in the world oceans. At the present time, 

 only a very limited amount of effort is being given to biological research 

 and stock assessment of swordfish in the U.S.: 



1) The National Marine Fisheries Service, in cooperation with the 

 Pacific Marine Fisheries Commission and the California Department of Fish 

 and Game, sampled swordfish catches at sea in 1978 and 1979. 



2) The NMFS is cooperating with the Western Pacific and Pacific 

 (west coast) Fishery Management" Council s in the development of the Fishery 

 Management PI an. 



3) The NMFS sponsored the Cooperative Marine Game Fish Tagging 

 Program, which has encouraged the tagging of swordfish and striped marl in 

 off southern California. Swordfish (and striped marl in) are of particular 

 interest to the Pacific Councils' FMP. 



