Swordfish Management in Canada

Canada’s domestic swordfish fishery is conducted within Canadian Atlantic waters from April to December, primarily on the edges of Georges Bank, the Scotian Shelf, and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canada’s strong swordfish management regime ensures that the fishery is sustainable, well controlled, and monitored. Canada takes a comprehensive approach to enforcement that includes sophisticated vessel monitoring systems on all longline vessels, aerial surveillance, dockside monitoring, and at-sea observers. Read more on monitoring and enforcement measures.

Canadian scientists are leading international efforts to learn more about swordfish migration and biology. They are supported in those efforts by Canadian swordfish harvesters, who understand the importance of sustainability for the future of the fisheries and who offer their expertise and experience in the development of Canada’s Integrated Fisheries Management Plans.

The swordfish fishery is socially and economically important to communities throughout Atlantic Canada. Therefore, the industry is fully engaged in the conservation and management efforts for this species to ensure its sustainability, including funding independent at-sea observers to monitor the fishery. (The harpoon fishery also provides funding for scientific research). Read more about the tagging project to track migratory patterns of the swordfish stock.

The reduction of by-catch and dead discards is an important component of the management of the pelagic longline fishery which includes Atlantic swordfish, bigeye and yellowfin. To that end, the industry, working closely with the government, has implemented a number of mitigating measures, such as:

• Using circle hooks, which are believed to reduce non-target species by-catch rates and to increase the probability of post release survival;
• Practicing live release, to the extent possible, of all sensitive species;
• Landing, reporting, and marketing certain non-target harvests  to minimize resource waste; and
• Collaborating with DFO in a research program examining patterns of by-catch in the pelagic longline fishery, with a view to mitigate catches of sensitive species.

The pelagic longline fleet must follow a code of conduct for the handling and release of marine turtles. All active vessels are also equipped with turtle de-hooking kits and dipnets to help handle and release marine turtles with as little harm as possible.

Canada’s Northwest Atlantic pelagic longline fishery has been awarded Marine stewardship Council (MSC) certification in April 2012. To learn more about this assessment process, visit the MSC Web site.