Species Collapse, Swordfish

"No comprehensive management and recovery plan has ever been designed for this species – yet it is, like bluefin tuna, highly overfished. Unless immediate action is taken, the Mediterranean swordfish will meet the same fate as Mediterranean bluefin tuna and face a high risk of collapse. Countries have caught swordfish across the Mediterranean since Roman times, and those now catching the most are Italy (45%), Morocco (19%), Greece (10%), and Spain (10%). The most recent stock assessment carried out by ICCAT's own scientific committee in July 2010 clearly depicts a situation of severe overfishing and warns about the unsustainably high catches of juvenile fish. The fishery underwent a rapid expansion in the late 1980s which led to a sharp decline in levels of fish of reproducing age in only a few years. The population has remained at historically low levels since then. According to ICCAT scientists, annual catches currently amount to around 12,000 tonnes."