Physical
characteristics: The swordfish is a sleek and streamlined
fish adapted to roaming the world oceans. Skin color is
bluish-grey on the back, graduating to a whitish hue on
the belly of the fish. The swordfish has a powerful, stiff
tail fin as well as a large keel-like back fin that often
is above the water as the fish swims. The most noteworthy
feature of the fish, however, is its "sword" on the end
of it's upper jaw/nose. This sword can be quite large, accounting
for up to a third of the overall length of the fish. Swordfish
over 1,000 lbs. have been caught, but most commercially
caught swordfish are in the 55-300 pound range. |
Major
catch areas: Swordfish are found in most of the world
ocean's temperate (warmer) waters, including the eastern
and western Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as well as the
Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. Most fresh sword production
comes from Chile, Hawaii and the eastern United States while
most frozen swordfish comes from Singapore, Japan, Taiwan
and Indonesia. |
Seasonality:
Product is available year-round. |
Harvest
method: Product for fresh market is a combination of
long-line and harpoon, while frozen production is all longline-caught.
|
| Product
forms: |
Fresh:
Most fresh product is sold as "logs" or "D.W.T.", meaning
the product has been dressed headless without the tail.
Other forms include "wheels" (straight cuts across a whole
fish), loins, chunks and steaks. |
Frozen:
Most frozen product is sold in boneless fillet form (i.e.
the whole side of the fish), graded as 10/20 lbs., 20/40
lbs.,40/60 lbs., 60/80 lbs., 80/100 lbs. and 100 lbs. up
by quality grades of sashimi and non-sashimi. Some product
is also sold as loins (i.e. one quarter of the fish) in
the same size and quality grades as fillets. |
Value-added:
Most common are steaks, packed in vacuum pouches or IQF,
graded in 4 ounce, 6 ounce, 8 ounce and 10 ounce increments.
Product is normally skin-on and boneless. Other forms include
center-cut loins ("steak-ready loins"), and kakobs (small
chunks). |
Flavor/texture
profile: Swordfish meat is firm, lean and "meaty", with
a very distinctive flavor. |
Notes: While there is only one species
of swordfish caught and sold, the variety of catch areas and production
styles yield a variety of product qualities that can be confusing
to the customer. The highest quality products are "sashimi" grade,
meaning they are longline-caught, processed and frozen at minus
60 degrees centigrade on sashimi boats and graded as the best
of meat color. Product that is not as well handled is labeled
"non-sashimi", but can be either vessel or land-frozen. Look for
creamy-white meat color and the bloodline ("mustache") to be red
and finely delineated in a sashimi product, and more tan colored
meat and brownish or diffused bloodline in a lower grade non-sashimi
product. Swordfish accumulates mercury in its system, so larger
fish are liable to have accumulations. The FDA has a maximum tolerance
of mercury of 1 part per million in swordfish flesh. |
|
Nutritional Facts
| Calories |
121 |
|
|
| Fat calories |
36 |
|
|
| Total
fat |
4
g |
|
|
| Saturated
fat |
1.1
g |
|
|
| Cholesterol |
39
mg |
|
|
| Sodium |
90
mg |
|
|
| Potassium |
288
mg |
|
|
| Protein |
19.8
g |
|
|
| Iron |
0.8
mg |
|
|
| Serving
Size |
100g./3.5oz.
(raw) |
|
|
|
