Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)

Essential Fish Habitat for Atlantic Swordfish:

• Spawning, eggs and larvae: From offshore Cape Hatteras, NC (approximately 35° N) extending south around peninsular Florida through the Gulf of Mexico to the U.S./Mexico border from the 200 m isobath to the EEZ boundary; associated with the Loop Current boundaries in the Gulf and the western edge of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic; also, all U.S. waters of the Caribbean from the 200 m isobath to the EEZ boundary.
  
  
• Juveniles/subadults (180 LJFL): In pelagic waters warmer than 18° C from the surface to a depth of 500 m, from offshore Manasquan Inlet, NJ at 40° N, east to 73° N, and south to the waters off Georgia at 31.5° N, between the 25 and 2,000 m isobaths; offshore Cape Canaveral, FL (approximately 29° N) extending from the 100 m isobath to the EEZ boundary (south and east) around peninsular Florida; in the Gulf of Mexico from Key West to offshore Galveston, TX (95° W) from the 200 m isobath to the EEZ boundary, with the exception of the area between 86° W and 88.5° W, where the seaward boundary of EFH is the 2,000 m isobath.
  
  
• Adults (>180 LJFL): In pelagic waters warmer than 13° C from the surface to 500 m deep, offshore the U.S. east and Gulf coasts from the intersection of the 100 m isobath and the EEZ boundary southeast of Cape Cod, MA to south and offshore Biscayne Bay, FL at 25.5° N, from the 100 to 2,000 m isobath or the EEZ boundary, which ever is closer to land; from offshore Tampa Bay, FL at 85° N to offshore Mobile Bay, AL at 88° N between the 200 and 2,000 m isobaths; from offshore south of the Mississippi River delta, 89° N to offshore waters south of Galveston, TX, 95° N from the 200 m isobath to the EEZ boundary.