THE HALIBUT FISHERIES 121 



flaky texture after being cooked. The female fish Uve longer and grow 

 larger than the males; a male may live as long as 25 years and be only 

 40 pounds, whereas a large female may live 35 years and be 400 pounds. 

 Fishing for halibut is conducted almost exclusively by means of the 

 baited long line or set line laid along the bottom while the boat is running 

 (see Chapter 4 for additional information on fishing gear). Most boats 

 in the Pacific halibut fishery are 50 to 80 feet in length and hold 30 to 

 50 tons of iced halibut. The season starts in April or May and continues 

 to October each year, depending upon the season and quota set by the 

 International Halibut Commission. The larger boats, with a crew of 7 

 to 9 fishermen, head out to the fishing grounds with fuel, ice, bait, and 



Figure 9.1. Halibut. 



groceries for several weeks' fishing. The fishing grounds are 3 to 6 days 

 away at an 8 knot cruising speed; therefore, time on the outgoing trip 

 is used for preparing and baiting the gear. Everything is ready to go as 

 soon as the grounds are reached. Frozen herring, about 200 to 300 pounds 

 of it per ton of halibut to be caught, is a common bait but is interspersed 

 with other frozen fish and, in recent years, with frozen octopus. Octopus 

 is more efficient as a lure and has a staying power on the hook which 

 makes it worth the extra cost to the fisherman. 



After the long line has been on the bottom several hours, the buoy 

 line is retrieved and a fisherman takes the position at the starboard rail 

 for hauling the ground line to the surface. During the subsequent opera- 

 tion, when the ground line is hauled in, the fisherman at the rail and four 

 others on the deck must work smoothly and eflftciently at a most arduous 



