The profitability of the Spanish swordfish fleet in the North Atlantic

Our aim is to analyse the profitability of the Spanish swordfish fleet in the North Atlantic on the basis of the estimate of the gross profit per standard vessel, the average yield and the investment payback period (PP). The swordfish fleet has grown over the last decade to become the main producer in this fishery and one of the most stable fleets of all the Spanish fisheries. The results obtained show increases in profit per vessel, although there was a slight decrease in the final year studied, relatively high rates of return and PP shorter than the average life of one of the fleet's standard vessels.