Swordfish
Xiphias gladius
Unverified
Handling & regulations: Confirmed live as of 2026-08-09: recreational retention requires a federal HMS Angling or Charterboat/Headboat permit, with a 47" lower-jaw-fork-length minimum. Swordfish is named on the FDA/EPA joint 'Choices to Avoid' (highest-mercury) list alongside shark, king mackerel, and tilefish — this project couldn't get a clean direct fetch of the current live FDA chart (repeated 403/404s on other species pages' checks), but this is corroborated consistently across multiple independent sources describing the same stable, years-old joint advisory. Pregnant/nursing people and young children should avoid it; everyone else should eat it only occasionally.
Where this fish fits
These are discovery categories describing where anglers realistically fish for this species, not a guarantee this project has confirmed regional access at every listed setting — see the linked locations below for this project's own actually-sourced spots.
- Typical season
- Year-round where conditions allow, targeted by daytime deep-dropping in deep offshore canyon water — a real, growing Virginia fishery, not just a nighttime-drift species here.
- Habitats
- Deep offshore canyon edges, often 1,000+ feet down
- Food use
- Eat with caution
Data not yet verified.
This site hasn't checked for a fish-consumption advisory covering this species yet. That is not the same as confirmed safe — check current official guidance before eating your catch.
Seasons, size limits, and possession limits change and vary by water body. Always check the current regulations at the current regulations page before you fish.
- Bait & lures
- Daytime deep-dropped rigged squid or bait, fished with lights and heavy weight to reach depth
- Beginner difficulty
- Challenging
Drawn from a named source but not independently confirmed. Double-check before relying on it.
Season, habitat, and bait notes reflect general regional angling knowledge and have not been individually checked against official data. The regulation link was confirmed live as of 2026-08-08 — always check it before you fish, since seasons and limits change. Unlike the general habitat/bait notes, the permit requirement and minimum size above were directly confirmed live against the official NOAA HMS swordfish page as of 2026-08-09. Added to this guide specifically because a real, well-documented Virginia state-record swordfish (597 lb, caught along the Norfolk Canyon in 2020) needed a real species page to link to — see /records.