This year's mid-August to mid-October U.S. Grand Banks swordfishery period has generally left its catchers, consumers and purveyors smiling.

"The fishes' quality was typical for then, but the volume (landings) was higher this year," explained Joe Mason, a seafood buyer for Pigeon Cove Whole Foods in Gloucester.

The East Coast's remaining distant-water swordfish longliners began arriving on the areas open to U.S. fishing around the Grand Banks off Newfoundland — namely, the tail of the Bank, about 800 miles from Gloucester, as well as The Flemish Cap — around May to longline swordfish until the end of October.

The Flemish Cap is about 1,200 miles east of Gloucester. Several in the fleet, vessels which range in length from the 55-foot Big Eye to the 110-foot White Water, were featured in Discovery Channel's recent swordfish series.

"There wasn't much there (swordfish on the open Grand Banks areas), and then they (the swordfish) just showed up," explained Charlie Johnson, 67, of Harpswell, Maine. "The fish were in the 54- to 57-degree water. It was real green water (as seen from the surface, probably due to phytoplankton blooms)."

Johnson, owner and operator of the 79-foot aluminum swordboat Seneca, and a veteran swordfisherman of more than 30 years, found swordfish at the Tail of the Bank.

"I was down in there trying to keep my noise (often radio conversations) quiet," Johnson said, "but the rest of the fleet figured it out (where he was and that he was on the fish). It didn't take them long."

Tim Malley, a former swordfisherman and spotter pilot, said the fish were 200 to 300 miles closer to the United States this time, at the Tail of the Bank.

"They were outside of Canada's 200-mile limit and accessible to U.S. fishermen," said Malley, who is CEO at Boston Sword & Tuna. The company, one of the Northeast's largest seafood dealers, purchases swordfish from nearly all over the planet, but "... we buy almost exclusively United States and Canadian-caught swordfish from September through November," Malley added.

Besides having the swordfish closer to home that period, "the fishermen had good weather, and that coincided with the right cycles of the moon (to catch fish)," Malley said.

The full moon creates stronger tides, which in turn merge warm and cold water. That pushes feed and, consequently, the swordfish up in the water column where the longline gear reaches. The weather can turn bad on the Grand Banks by September as named and un-named storms pass through and prolong fishing trips and scatter fish.

"Few swordfishermen begin their Grand Banks trips after October," said former Gloucester swordboat owner and fisherman Don Lowe.

Abundant large fish further contributed to the volume of Grand Banks swordfish landed.

"They were all big fish — averaging about 200 pounds (the weight of the fish trunk minus the head, viscera and fins)," Johnson said. "There were hardly any pups (small swordfish under 49 pounds) in (the schools of swordfish). These fish were really good looking; they had been feeding on the Bank all summer."

"There have been lots of 300-, 400-pounders and even some 500-pounders," Malley said.

"These fish were short and fat," added Dan Rand, another of Pigeon Cove Whole Foods' seafood buyers.

"These swordfish were shaped like barrels because they had been eating like pigs," Mason said.

"The fish were as good as they get," said Rand's and Mason's co-worker, Bill Dubin.

Malley said that 120- to250 pounders are the best size for the market. Processors loin most of the swordfish, and these are later steaked at fish markets or restaurants and either sold or served, respectively, as such.

Mason recalled that there were two "big surges" of swordfish — one in mid-August and the other in mid-September - "plus another small one in mid-October," he said.

Canadian longline and harpoon fish made up some of those surges, but most of it "... came from the U.S. longline fleet," Malley added.

Malley said that, during the high-volume period, trips lasted only 12 to 18 days dock to dock, and the individual vessel landings ranged from 25,000 pounds up to 70,000.

"The boats all had their bluefins (tuna fish), too," he added.

That included so many tuna fish that the bluefin quota for the Northeast region eventually got filled. The quick trips translated to extra-fresh swordfish for the public. Swordfish trips usually last a month or longer.

The consumers further benefited from frequent swordfish sales, especially at supermarket chains such as DeMoulas' Market Basket stores, which briefly sold top-grade U.S. wild-caught, fresh swordfish steaks that glistened in their showcases for $5.99 a pound. To their credit, the various swordfish dealers moved all that fish.

"The fishermen might have been smiling about their rebuilt, sustainable swordfish stock, but they weren't smiling about their (boat) prices," said Malley.

"There was so much of that Grand Banks swordfish that it was name your price. It was $2, $2.50 per pound even for the best grade fish," Rand added. The $2 to $2.50 boat price was about half of what swordboats normally get for their fish.

Several boats, including Johnson's, staggered their landings between other big off-loadings to get a better price.

"We tried to get around the market and get in (and off-load) between the boats. The price has just started to come back," said Johnson. The boat price for swordfish, like lobster, has generally retrograded the past couple of years in the sluggish economy.

"Price is the best salesman," said Mason.

"As a dealer, I like to see a lot of fish caught, and I also like to see a good price for the boats," said Charlie Nagle, president of the John Nagle Co. in Boston. The company, established in 1887, has been buying the Seneca's catches for about 20 years.

The Seneca was the last U.S. East Coast swordboat to land a Grand Banks trip.

"We followed them (the swordfish), and they disappeared," said Johnson.

Canadian tracking studies have shown many of the Grand Banks swordfish leave the area in the late fall and "... head southwest to winter in the Gulf of Mexico," Johnson explained. The Seneca unloaded its catch in Gloucester on Oct. 27.

The rest of the fleet will continue swordfishing in more southern waters. Johnson will tie the Seneca up in Portland, Maine, for a while and do some maintenance on her.

"I haven't been home since late April," he said.

"It always feels good to the fishermen to catch fish," Nagle said. "But, if they had better prices, it would have been a good year." said Nagle.

Gloucester lobsterman Peter K. Prybot writes weekly for the Times about the fishing industry and other related issues.