Sustainable Swordfish: Perfect for outdoor grilling
As the Seafood Merchant at FreshDirect, it’s important for me to bring our customers not only great-tasting, fresh seafood but also sustainable ones too.
We just got our first batch of sustainably caught swordfish in the shop. These fish come to us from Nova Scotia and from the first swordfish fishery to be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Here fishermen use a traditional fishing method, harpooning, where swordfish are identified one fish at a time and then target them with a harpoon attached a line. This fishing method assures that fisherman only catch larger mature swordfish while eliminating non-targeted species or by-catch.
In a couple of weeks, co-founder David McInerney and I will be traveling up to Nova Scotia to visit the fishery and join swordfish fishermen on their boats. I’m looking forward to connecting with the fishermen and experiencing the thrill of fishing for sustainable swordfish, if only for a few days. The season is short, lasting only a few weeks, and yields some of the best fresh fish FreshDirect has to carry all year.
These sustainably caught swordfish offer steaks with a firm, meaty texture closer to that of filet mignon than they do to fish, and a clean, surprisingly mild flavor. You can cook swordfish in the oven or on the stovetop, but these steaks practically cry out to be grilled.