For the fisherman of New England, braving the frigid, unpredictable waters of the North Atlantic is a tradition that has been in their families for generations. It is an unforgiving environment, where forty-five-foot vessels contend with fifty-foot waves and gale-force winds. Where one fish can earn you $50,000, and one mistake can cost you your life. Swords takes us out to sea in pursuit of massive blue-fin tuna and the elusive swordfish. Together with the fathers, sons, old salts and greenhorns for whom the ocean is more than just where they make a living: it's a way of life.