258 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Fundy in the coldest winters, or in the submarine 

 embayment between Jeffreys Ledge and the coast. 



We have nothing to contribute as to present-day 

 spawning of halibut within the Gulf of Maine. 

 Of old, ripe females were reported on Georges in 

 May and June, and have been, repeatedly, on the 

 deeper slopes of the Nova Scotian banks generally, 

 to the eastward, as well as off the Grand Banks 

 and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But halibut 

 smaller than a couple of pounds are seldom caught 

 in the inner parts of the Gulf though "chickens" 

 of 10 to 20 pounds are not uncommon there, there 

 being a sharp contrast in this respect between the 

 Gulf of Maine and the waters around Iceland, 

 where Jespersen found an abundance of little fish 

 of 8 to 10 inches. 



This, added to the fact that the inshore grounds 

 were fished out so soon with little apparent tend- 

 ency to recover when the fishery slackened, and 

 that depletion by overfishing has not been ac- 

 companied by any corresponding decrease in the 

 average size of the fish that are caught, suggests 

 that the halibut population of the inner parts of 

 our Gulf always depended more on immigration 

 from east and north of Cape Sable for its main- 

 tenance than it did on local production. Fry 

 may have been produced in greater numbers over 

 the offshore slope of Georges Bank, where the Alba- 

 tross III trawled two little halibut about 6 inches 

 long, at 175 to 195 fathoms, on May 16, 1950. 



Importance. — The halibut, because of its pres- 

 ent-day scarcity, is of only minor importance 

 commercially in our Gulf; in 1947 the landings in 

 New England, including what halibut were brought 

 in from the Nova Scotian banks eastward from 



Cape Sable, amounted to only about 586,000 

 pounds, valued at $144,680. But the demand is 

 always so good that all that are brought in are 

 readily salable, and (being so large) each one that 

 is caught is well worth saving. In the year in 

 question (representative of present-day condi- 

 tions), about one-fifth of the total New England 

 landings, were caught on long lines 71 three- 

 fourths by otter trawlers. The small remainder 

 (10,000 pounds) were taken on hand lines, mostly 

 by small -boat fishermen off the coast of Maine. 



We can only regret that there are not enough 

 halibut inshore in our Gulf today to be of any 

 general concern to anglers, for this is a very 

 "sporting" fish as well as welcome on the table. 



Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides 

 (Walbaum) 1792 



Greenland turbot; Newfoundland turbot 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2611. 



Description. — This is a right-handed, large- 

 mouthed flatfish (that is, it lies on its left side, 

 with its eyes on its right side, and its abdomen 

 at its right edge), with slightly concave tail, and 

 symmetrical ventral fins like a halibut. In fact 

 it so closely resembles the halibut that it might 

 easily be taken for one were it not that its lateral 

 line is nearly straight abreast of the pectoral fin, 

 (arched in the halibut) and that its long fins 

 (dorsal and anal) are of rather different shape 

 (compare fig. 127 with fig. 123), though with about 

 the same number of rays (about 100 dorsal and 



» Goode and Collins (Fish. Ind. U. S., Sec. 5, vol. 1 1887, pp. 10-18) have 

 given a readable account of the, long-line fishery. 



Figure 127. — Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) . From Goode. Drawing by H. L. Todd. 



