The North Atlantic swordfish is what we call a “highly migratory species”. In other words, they spend the winters off Puerto Rico and in the Gulf of Mexico, and then in the spring, they start their migration to Canada. They travel using the Gulfstream, arrive in late May or early June, and stay through October before heading south again.
Many boats target these fish during the summer months. Last year, to gear up for a 14-day trip, they bought bait, fuel, tackle, and groceries, which cost about $40k. This year, to gear up for that same trip, it costs between $75k & $80k. Included in that figure is 9500 gallons of diesel at $6.25 a gallon. It is a huge ocean out there, and those fish move all the time, so you burn a lot of fuel looking for them. Sword usually gets cheap in September and October, but if it does this year, some of these boat captains are gonna lose their shirt! (Full Newsletter)
5/16/2022