The swords are on a significant rebound. We just had a huge victory with the longliners, why mess it up by giving out hand gear permits? I think that would be kind of hypocritical, you can't sell fish but we can; I also think it would be a slippery slope towards allowing commercial fishing again. I don't know about you guys, but the reason I swordfish is to feel the power of these fish on rod and reel, and to feel the sense of accomplishment after a successful night. I don't think it is possible to have these same feelings catching them with hand gear. I know many of you do this for a living, and would make some decent money, but that profit would probably be very temporary with thousands of vollyeballs floating out there. This fishery is awesome, and getting better every year, lets keep it that way by going strictly rec.
Maybe in a few years, if things continue to rebound, it would be nice to be able to sell a single fish per night, caught on rod and reel, to help out with the costs, but I agree with Cary that the fish are not ready for this yet.