| Summary: | Swordfish has an important role in Portuguese fisheries. Portuguese commercial swordfish landings were analyzed from 1986 to 2012. Commercial landings of five incidental catches of pelagic sharks (Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus, Isurus oxyrinchus, Prionace glauca and Sphryna zygaena) were also evaluated for the same period. A total of 3.653 landings of swordfish (12.625 t) were observed in 62 ports. Annual landings for the fishery generally decreased over time, with a corresponding increase in price per kilogram. The most fished shark was blue shark with 12.715 t in 48 ports. It was followed by shortfin mako, thresher, smooth hammerhead and bigeye thresher (with 5.113 t, 672 t, 19 t and 0,45 t, respectively). The lowest landings of swordfish were observed in the first semester of each years while catch levels of blue sharks were high. Shortfin mako catches raised only since 2005. The remaining species studies always displayed lower landings, suggesting that most of them are bycaught.
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