Megalofonou et al.: Incidental catch and estimated discards of pelagic sharks in the Mediterranean Sea 



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found in the swordfish longline, about 1.02 fish/fishing 

 set, followed by the driftnet and the albacore longline 

 CPUE values (Table 9). 



Seasonality in catch rates was evident in the sword- 

 fish longline fishery; shark CPUE peaked during late 

 spring and summer, whereas swordfish CPUE peaked 

 during fall and winter (Fig. 2). In the driftnet fishery, 

 shark CPUE peaked during June and swordfish CPUEs 

 were higher during June and July (Fig. 3). 



Blue shark was the most abundant shark species in 

 all areas and gears examined. It accounted for almost 

 95% of all sharks caught. Higher catch rates were ob- 

 served in the swordfish fishery with an average value 

 of 1.24 fish/1000 hooks in SWO-LL and 0.45 fish/1000 

 hooks in SWO-LL A fishery. Analysis of catch rates by 

 area showed that blue shark was caught more frequently 

 in the Alboran and Adriatic Sea, reaching 3.59 fish/1000 

 hooks and 1.00 fish/1000 hooks, respectively (Table 8). 



