STANDARDIZED FISHING EFFORT OF ALBACORE, THUNNUS ALALUNGA, CAUGHT BY THE SPANISH TROLL FLEET IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC, 1981-2005

SUMMARY Relative abundance indices by number of albacore (Thunnus alalunga) caught by the Spanish troll fleet in the northeastern Atlantic were estimated by analyzing catch rates from individual trips collected for the period 1981-2005. Different models were explored to obtain the standardized fishing effort of the troll flee by month and quarter. Models fit were based on the General Linear Modeling approach by applying the log-normal error distribution model with constant variance.