Swordfish

Imports swell as U.S. fishermen grapple with closures

It’s hard to imagine a U.S. fishery that has seen more confrontation in recent years than the one for swordfish, a solitary roamer of the world’s tropical and temperate oceans.

Before environmental groups urged chefs this year to “Take a Pass on Sea Bass,” they made headlines with their “Give Swordfish a Break” campaign, which kicked off in 1998.

Two years later, SeaWeb, the group that launched the swordfish boycott, declared victory and called off its campaign after the National Marine Fisheries Service closed a large swath of the waters off the southeastern United States to protect juvenile swordfish.

But for U.S. swordfish fishermen, the worst was yet to come. Alarmed at the rapid decline in the population of leatherback sea turtles, which they blame on “industrial longlining” for swordfish and tuna, other environmental groups took to the courts and in late 2000 forced NMFS to declare huge areas of the North Pacific off-limits to U.S. swordfish boats.

The closure effectively shut down the Hawaii-based swordfish fishery, and the state’s annual swordfish landings plummeted from almost 2,000 metric tons in 2000 to fewer than 150 metric tons in 2001.

Afraid to lose more time-consuming lawsuits, NMFS enacted a similar closure in 2001 that closed most of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland to U.S. swordfish boats, which slashed New England’s 2001 landings by 30 percent to 800 metric tons.

This July, NMFS announced that it had no choice but to keep the Grand Banks area closed to protect the endangered sea turtles.

 While U.S. swordfishermen stay tied to the dock, trying make a living, high-seas sword boats from other countries can fish at will in international waters closed to the U.S. fleet.

Supply outlook 

Unlike sword boats from New England and Hawaii,  the California gillnet fishery, which normally runs from October to January, has managed to operate under the radar screen of the environmental groups.

California sword landings, which average between 1,500 and 2,500 metric tons a year, have accounted for 25 to 30 percent of the total U.S. sword catch. These days, California boats land more than half of the domestic swordfish catch.

Although U.S. landings of sword have declined sharply, the total U.S. swordfish supply is down only about 10 to 15 percent, thanks to steady supplies of imports. While total sword imports in 2001 declined slightly, to 13,700 metric tons (60 percent of which was fresh), imports through the first five months of 2002 were up 26 percent, to 6,000 metric tons.

Almost a dozen countries fly fresh swordfish from around the world to the United States. The biggest suppliers are Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Costa Rica and Mexico.

On the frozen side, the swordfish import market is dominated by Singapore, a primary shipment port for the high-seas longline tuna fleet, which has a significant incidental catch of sword.   

Price trends

Despite the cutbacks in U.S. landings, the price of fresh swordfish has not climbed, though it continues to fluctuate within its typical seasonal ranges. For the first six months of 2002, the price of fresh sword “logs” (head-off, tail-off, gutted fish) to distributors ranged from a high of $5 a pound in January to a low of  $4 a pound in June. Last year, prices ranged from a high of $6 in June to a low of $3.10 in November.

An 11 percent increase in imports of frozen sword has led to a decline in prices this year. The average declared value of frozen sides from Singapore declined from $2.72 a pound through the first four months of 2001 to $2.30 a pound this year. At the wholesale level, the f.o.b. East Coast price of large (60 pounds and up) sashimi-quality sides has declined from $3.20 a pound to  $3.05 a pound.

Look for the price of fresh sword to be similar in 2003. A weak economy has dampened demand for this relatively pricey fish at restaurants and supermarkets. On the frozen front, prices should stabilize at the lower levels through 2003.

Buying tips

The big quality issue with swordfish has always been the bloodline: The redder and tighter, the better. But measuring quality by the bloodline alone can be misleading, because it’s not really a bloodline at all.

It’s an area of red muscle that surrounds two blood vessels that run the length of the swordfish, very close to its skin. The swordfish constantly adjusts the amount of blood flowing through these vessels to help regulate its body temperature as it encounters different water temperatures. By regulating blood flow, it constricts or expands its red muscle area.

Factors that determine the color of the bloodline include fat content and amount of metabolic byproducts produced by the fish as it struggles after being caught.

Some fishermen also chill swordfish with saltwater ice, which, if applied immediately after it is made, can partially freeze the surface of the fish and turn the red muscle area brown.

Don’t judge quality just by bloodlines. Look at the meat color. It should be a nice white or pink, not a dark gray-brown.

The best buys on fresh sword are always in November, when landings from the California fishery peak and prices for whole fish can fall below $3 a pound.

Culinary notes

Swordfish lends itself particularly well to grilling and broiling, fast, high-temperature cooking techniques that seal in the natural moisture of this exceptionally flavorful fish.  Sword is easily paired with just about any cuisine.

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