STANDARDIZED CATCH RATES OF SAILFISH (ISTIOPHORUS ALBICANS) CAUGHT AS BYCATCH OF THE SPANISH SURFACE LONGLINE FISHERY TARGETING SWORDFISH (XIPHIAS GLADIUS) IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Standardized catch rates of the sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) were obtained from 10615 trip observations of surface longline fishing targeting swordfish during the period 2001-2014. In roughly 28% of these trips at least one individual belonging to this species was found. Because of the low prevalence of this species in this fishery, the standardized CPUE was developed using a Generalized Linear Mixed Model assuming a delta-lognormal error distribution. The results obtained indicate that the overall trend of the standardized CPUE was similar for the total Atlantic areas and for the East and West stocks. An overall increasing trend was identified for the total Atlantic areas and for the East and West stock for the whole 2001-2014 period with some fluctuations in the most recent years.