The international body that regulates swordfish has preserved the U.S. quota for the next two years at a potentially lucrative 3,907 metric tons per year. And this quota was given to New Jersey fishermen. Swordfish is a major commercial fishery at Viking Village, fishing cooperative on the northern end of Long Beach Island. It’s also a rare growth fishery with U.S. catches up 40 percent since 2006.
After initial investment fishermen have a good future in catching swordfish.
What concerned the industry as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or ICCAT, met earlier this month in Istanbul, Turkey, is that countries overfishing their quota wanted to grab America’s unused allocation.
Ernie Panecek, the manager of the Viking Village docks, said that it is good to see that the quota was given to New Jersey fishermen because the markets have been pretty high and plenty of fish to catch. Rob Burcaw, who fishes for swords out of Sea Isle City, said that fishermen are happy to have this quota. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, went to Turkey with a goal of preserving the U.S. quota.
The main reason the U.S. had unused quota is due to strict conservation measures designed to protect stocks and save other marine life including sea turtles and marine mammals. The U.S. closed off huge sections of the ocean to protect juvenile swordfish and required fishermen to use a type of hook that reduces catches of marine turtles. The circle hook, as opposed to a J-hook also allowed 30 percent of the swordfish that were hooked to escape.
