Spanish albacore (Thunnus alalunga) surface fishery in the Northeastern Atlantic, summary description in 2018.

• Main Authors: Ortiz-de-Zárate, Victoria, Quelle, Pablo, Ruiz, Marta
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Pesquerías; Thunnus alalunga; Centro Oceanográfico de Santander; troll fishery; bait boat fishery; catch; size composition; age composition; Northeast Atlantic; Bay of Biscay; albacore
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/14959; http://hdl.handle.net/10261/327191

Main features of the Spanish albacore (Thunnus alalunga) surface fishery in 2018 were summarized. Fishing activity took place during summer from June to August operating in offshore waters of the northeast Atlantic and in the Bay of Biscay. Albacore was targeted by troll fleet from June to August, mostly in off shore waters of northeast Atlantic and the baitboat in the Bay of Biscay. In 2018, the catch of the baitboat fleet increased 38% while troll fleet increased 15% compared to catch in year 2017. Size composition of catches taken by baitboats and troll fleets in 2018, showed a high proportion of age 2 group, followed by equivalent proportion of age 1 and age 3 groups albacore. Monthly spatial distribution of nominal catch rates were presented for both fleets.