-87- 



STATUS REPORT: NORTH ATLANTIC ALBACORE 



by 



Norman Bartoo 



Southwest Fisheries Center 



Oceanic Fisheries Resources Division 



La Jolla, California 



ABSTRACT 



The north Atlantic albacore stock is fished by longline and surface 

 gears. Surface catches (38,000 mt in 1979) have declined about 25X since 

 1950. Longline catches in 1979 were 11,000 mt. Available evidence 

 indicates that MSY is about 60,000 mt, which is 10% to 15% above recent 

 years' catches. Yield-per-recruit to the north Atlantic albacore fisheries 

 is about 3.8 kg, with some increase possible with fishery changes. 

 Recruitment indices indicate that spawning stock is low and recruitment 

 highly variable. The fishery appears to be heavily exploited. 



