I'm going to support the boycott, out of conscience, despite the fact that I'm uncertain that it will do anything to help the species.
When I was a kid, in the seventies, the North Atlantic swordfishery was primarily a harpooning business. American and Canadian fisherman only reverted to the longlines when fish could not be spotted on the surface, due to adverse weather or water conditions. While harpooning, of course the fishermen had the opportunity to pass up the small fish or, " Pups," as they were then called, and believe it or not they actually did. When the weather was too poor, or the surface temperature dipped, they would be forced to set the longlines. When the longlines are hauled in, all of the swordfish are dead. Of course it makes no sense to throw the dead pups back, so all were taken ashore.
As the stocks became depleted near the end of the seventies, it became virtually impossible to make a living harpooning, and so the entire fleet reverted to longlining. Even in the times of plenty, foreign fleets, particularly the Japanese and Koreans used longlining exclusively. It doesn't take a marine biologist to realize that this method of fishing spells absolute doom for the species.
Having spent ten years in the commercial fishing industry, fishing from New Bedford to Kodiak Alaska, I'll never understand why the fisherman can't seem to understand that the time to save the fishery is when you still have one.
I think the boycott should be supported by everyone, if only to raise public awareness that the stocks are dangerously depleted. Unfortunately, if the boycott is widely supported in America, the resultant decreased demand will only serve to lower the price worldwide, which will make it more affordable in places like Japan, which in turn will cause more Japanese to eat more swordfish.
On the positive side, the stocks are not depleted to the point of no return. As soon as there are nearly none left, NMFS will take action to protect them, just like they did with Haddock, Cod, Scallops, and Yellowtail Flounder. Historically, they have not taken action to protect species if there is even a hint of a viable commercial fishery left. With about ten years of no fishing pressure, the swordfish will probably come back as strong as the striped bass.
While I'm on my soapbox, how about halibut? In '76 while dragging in Cape Cod Bay, we caught about two-hundred pounds of immature halibut on one tow. At the time, no-one had seen or heard of halibut in the bay for a very long time. Being very poor commercial fisherman, it took a great deal of willpower to toss those fish over the rail, but we did it anyways, in the hopes that the species would make a comeback. To us it was like throwing five one-hundred dollar bills into the ocean.
I've always been a little proud that we threw them back, but every time I hear or read of one of us catching and keeping halibut it makes me cringe.
Halibut is my all-time-favorite eating fish, followed closely by swordfish, but I can assure you I won't be buying, catching, or eating them anytime soon.
Maybe, when you pass on the swordfish, you could pass on the halibut too?