THE HALIBUT 



105 



seas. For halibut since the war have become nearly as popular 

 as turbot in the British Isles, and it is one of the most valuable 

 and interesting as well as the largest of all the fishes landed on 

 our shores. 



There is no English record of the development and hatching 

 of the egg, the growth and development of the fry, their wander- 

 ings and food, or the habits of the adult halibut. Here, there- 

 fore, is an extremely valuable fish for whose protection at any 

 moment restrictions on fishing may be proposed. Have the 

 data been collected on which a reasoned judgement could be 

 based ? If so, can they be made known to British fishermen 

 who catch most of the European supply ? If not, is it not time 

 to collect them ? 



Fig. 8. — Baby halibut {^^ inch long. 

 Migrations of Fish^ 



Drawing (after Schmidt) from Meek's 



Greenland Halibut 



An American liner in 1911 caught over 62 tons of halibut 

 Avhich sold for £2,459 in a single voyage off the coast of Green- 

 land. The voyage is reported on p. 49 of the Annual Report 

 of the U. S. Comynissioner of Fisheries, 1911. This seems to 

 indicate the desirability of an exploratory voyage to test the 

 potentialities of the Greenland Banks. 



Mr. B. Storrow's Halibut Investigations 



Very valuable observations on the halibut were made in 1916 

 by Mr. B. Storrow, of the Dove Marine Laboratory at Culler- 

 coats, Northumberland. He examined the ear stones of forty- 

 eight fish. As is shown in the illustration (Plate VIII), which is a 

 photograph of the ear-stone of a fish 22f inches long, the annual 

 growth is very distinctly marked, and this particular halibut 

 was five years olcf, and just beginning to put on its summer 

 growth. It was landed on the 10th April 1916. 



