Catches from longline surveys are used to estimate relative fish abundance for many benthic and pelagic fish species around the world, including: sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria, Hanselman et al., 2006), Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepsis, Clark and Hare, 2006), Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides, Woll et al., 2001; Murua and Cardenas, 2005), sharks (class Elasmobranchia, e.g., Musick et al., 1993; Kohler et al., 1998; Simfendorfer et al., 2002), red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and yellowedge grouper (Epinephelus flavolimbatus) (Cook, 2007), rough-head grenadier (Macrourus berglax, Murua and Cardenas, 2005), and many demersal fish species off the Azores Archipelago in the mid-Atlantic (Menezes et al., 2006).
Correlations between sablefish and rockfish catch rates were likely weaker because there were a variety of species caught in relatively large numbers in rockfish preferred depths, such as Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepsis), arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias), and Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus).