It has been taken as a given over the past half-century that swordfish is not

kosher. What makes a fish kosher? We know from the Torah that a fish needs to
have fins and scales, and the mishna tells us that any fish that has scales also
has fins, and thus the real criteria is scales. Are there rules about those
scales? Ramban (commentary on Torah) says that the scales must be peelable,
meaning that one must be able to peel off the scales without ruining the fish.
Rabbi M. D. Tendler published an article a number of years ago classifying
different types of scales, and identifying which count as scales halachically and
which do not (Rabbi Zivotofsky does not agree that the categories are so neat).
Furthermore, it is OK if the scales are left in the water and if the scales do not
grow until later in life.
According to the FAO manual (1985), a swordfish has some form of scales, although
as the swordfish becomes an adult those scales fall off entirely. What happens to
those scales? Do they fall off? Do they get reabsorbed? It turns out that
swordfish are a bit of a mystery to the scientific community, since they cannot be
raised in captivity, and thus can only be observed either swimming by or lying
dead on the dock. The Knesset HaGedola (1600’s) refers to the eating of the dag
ba’al ha-cherev, which even though it had no observable scales, it has scales in
the water and those scales are lost when the fish shakes violently while being
removed from the water (it should be noted that it is difficult to rely on the
names of fish or animals referred to by older sources, as the names being used
often change over time). The Me’am Loez cites the Knesset HaGedola, who says that
they actually tried catching a swordfish with a cloth in the net, and the cloth
caught the scales. Rav Unterman wrote 30 years ago that swordfish is fine, and
Rav Schechter (Beit Yitzchak 2004) cited the Rov as saying that the swordfish was
kosher.
This being the case, why have swordfish been considered to be non-kosher? An OU
list of kosher fish in 1951 by Rabbi Tendler listed swordfish as non-kosher. Rav
Tendler wrote an article on this issue in 1968, and that article has become the
definitive source for the non-kosher status of the swordfish (this article became
the basis of the Tzitz Eliezer’s teshuva on the issue). His final reasoning was
the while the young fish has scales, they fall off entirely when it grows up, and
a fish that loses its scales entirely cannot be deemed kosher. Nevertheless, Jews
in Mediterranean countries have continued to eat swordfish, and have maintained a
mesorah as to how to identify the kosher type of swordfish.
Rabbi Zivotofsky has attempted to peel the scales off of a swordfish (under the
watch of trained experts) and they do appear to peel. Furthermore, the Agudat
HaRabbanim in 1933 seemed to list the swordfish as a kosher fish, as the Chatam
Sofer seems to accept it as well. As it turns out, swordfish do have some form of
scales, although they are highly atypical (it is currently a debate between Rabbi
Zivotofsky and several ichthyologists as to the exact classification of the
scales).