Swordfish
Xiphias gladius
Photo: Naturalis Biodiversity Center · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Keep or release?
Where are you fishing?
Size limits, seasons and female rules are set by each state. Pick yours to get a verdict.
TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland rules, plus federal protections everywhere.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListAssessed as Near Threatened — just below the threatened categories globally. The North Atlantic stock is the bright spot: it was declared rebuilt in 2002 after quota cuts, a genuine fisheries success story.
What Near Threatened means
Close to qualifying for a threatened category, or likely to qualify in the near future.
On your plate
Common Seafood
A rebuilt fishery and a reasonable choice from well-managed fleets. Separately, swordfish is high in mercury, so health advice limits how often it should be eaten.
Regional fishing status
North Atlantic swordfish is rebuilt and managed under ICCAT quotas. Gear type drives the remaining bycatch concerns.
If you buy it
- US harpoon and buoy-gear swordfish has almost no bycatch.
- Imported longline swordfish carries higher turtle and shark bycatch risk.
- US health agencies advise that pregnant people and young children avoid swordfish because of mercury.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Open ocean, from the surface to below 800 m
Range
Tropical, temperate and occasionally cold waters worldwide
Size
Commonly 3 m, up to 4.5 m and 650 kg
Diet
Squid, mackerel, herring and other pelagic fish
Lifespan
Around 9 years
Group
fish
The bill is used to slash through schools of prey rather than to spear them.
Special tissue beside the eyes warms the brain and retinas, keeping vision sharp during dives into near-freezing water.
A 1998 chefs' campaign to stop serving North Atlantic swordfish helped drive quota cuts — and the stock was declared rebuilt four years later.
Cook this species