The Seafood Choices Alliance seeks to bring ocean conversation to the table by providing chefs, fishermen, and other seafood purveyors with the information they need to make sound choices about seafood. Click here to visit the Seafood Choices Alliance to query their database about other
species.
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Non-sustainable seafood choice:
Give Swordfish a Break!
Bring Ocean Conservation to the Table!
Swordfish are large saltwater fish that can weigh up to 1200 pounds and grow to lengths more than 15 feet, a third of which consists of their flat, pointed sword. They have scales when they are born but lose most of them as they become adults. Their color is dark, purple to bronze-like with gray sides and belly. Swordfish are a highly migratory species, moving between colder waters in the summer to warmer waters in the winter for
spawning.
Food for thought:
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The average north Atlantic swordfish caught today weighs 90 pounds. This is one-third the size of swordfish caught in the 1960s (260 pounds) and well below the size that a female fish must reach in order to reproduce (150 pounds).
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Usually fished with longlines and driftnets, swordfish catches often bring in large numbers of juveniles, as well as other species such as sharks and sea turtles (a problem known as bycatch).
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In 1998, SeaWeb and the Natural Resources Defense Council launched Give Swordfish a Break, and asked chefs and consumers not to serve or buy north Atlantic swordfish. Although the campaign successfully helped secure an international recovery plan, the species isn't expected to recover for at least 10 years (around 2010).
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The status of swordfish and other billfish is unknown in the Pacific, but populations are believed to be fished at their full capacity.
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In January 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautioned pregnant and nursing women from consuming king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, and shark because of their high mercury content. However, the FDA recommended that they consume up to 12 ounces of other fish species each week.
To dine or not to dine: Atlantic and Pacific Swordfish
Recommended alternative:
Pacific halibut
Click here to visit the Seafood Choices Alliance
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